International Organisations & Globalisation
Geography: Edexcel A Level, topic 4.1.5
International Organisations and Globalisation
Various international political and economic organisations are very important in the advancement of globalisation.
Bretton Woods institutions
- Intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) like the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank promote free trade policies to encourage FDI and to accelerate globalisation.
- Since World War 2, these organisations have worked together to remove tariffs and quotas on goods that act as barriers to free trade.
Bretton Woods institutions cont.
- As more developing and emerging countries join the organisations, their actions to encourage free trade arguably continue to accelerate globalisation. China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001.
- These IGOs are collectively referred to as the ‘Bretton Woods institutions’ after the place in America where they are established.
BRIC institutions
- BRIC refers to Brazil, Russia, India and China.
- New alternatives or rivals to the Bretton Woods institutions are rising as the BRICs gain global influence and set up their own organisations - such as the China Development Bank.
- In 2015, the BRIC nations set up the New Development Bank to rival the World Bank.
BRIC institutions cont.
- By 2017, this New Development Bank had given loans of $1.5 billion dollars to member countries. Most of these loans went on developing renewable energy in these countries.
- China is particularly influential in Africa, where Chinese money funds lots of infrastructure projects in the likes of Kenya.
Test yourself on International Organisations & Globalisation
By 2017, the New Development Bank had given loans of how much to member countries?
Which of the following countries has been a particular focus for Chinese investment in infrastructure projects?
Which of these organisations could be described as a rival to the World Bank?