ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

ESIL Interest Group History of International Law

Wednesday 4 May 2022

ARTICLE: G. SANDERS, "The Historical Roots of International Financial Institutions and their Impact on the Purposes and Governance of these Organizations", Manchester Journal of International Economic Law (2022), Vol. 19, Issue 1, 2-36


Abstract:


Although international financial institutions (IFIs), including multilateral development banks, were first established in the mid-twentieth century, their historical roots can be traced to the previous century when international organizations first emerged. The charter-prescribed mandates of all inter-governmental bodies concerned with development can be understood, when viewed holistically and in historical context, as sharing a common purpose, namely sustaining peace and improving lives. In organizing their governance arrangements to support financing this view of development, IFIs have emulated some of the approaches of earlier international organizations, while also adopting novel governance features that respond to their special needs as inter-governmental financiers of development.

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