scholarly journals Chopping the world into bits: Africa, the World Bank, and the good governance norm

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

This article explores norms as idealizations, in an attempt to grasp their significance as projects for international organizations. We can think about norms as ‘standards of proper behaviour’. In this sense they are somehow natural, things to be taken for granted, noticed only really when they are absent. We can also think about norms as ‘understandings about what is good and appropriate’. In this sense, norms embody a stronger sense of virtue and an ability to enable progress or improvement. Norms become ideal when they are able to conflate what is good with what is appropriate, standard, or proper. It is when the good becomes ‘natural’ that a norm appears immanent and non-contestable, and so acquires an idealized form.45Along with the other articles in this special issue, I will attempt to challenge some of the complacency surrounding the apparent naturalness and universality of norms employed in international relations.

The autonomy of international organizations? The analysis of major powers’ influence over the World Bank’s aid policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110248
Author(s):  
Yooneui Kim ◽  
Youngwan Kim
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Official Development Assistance ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

Are international organizations autonomous actors in global politics? This paper investigates whether and how major powers influence the World Bank’s official development assistance policies. Despite the World Bank’s attempts to maintain independence from its member states, we argue that major powers are still influential. Testing this expectation with the data of official development assistance provisions between 1981 and 2017, we find that the World Bank provides a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipient countries that receive a higher amount of such assistance from the major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. In addition, the World Bank is prone to provide a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipients that have a similar preference to the major powers. This study sheds light on the relations between major powers and international organizations.

Recognized and Violated by International Law: The Human Rights of the Global Poor

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS POGGE
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
The World

Various human rights are widely recognized in codified and customary international law. These human rights promise all human beings protection against specific severe harms that might be inflicted on them domestically or by foreigners. Yet international law also establishes and maintains institutional structures that greatly contribute to violations of these human rights: fundamental components of international law systematically obstruct the aspirations of poor populations for democratic self-government, civil rights, and minimal economic sufficiency. And central international organizations, such as the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank, are designed so that they systematically contribute to the persistence of severe poverty.

Reconstruction after Earthquakes: Sustainability and Development

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alcira Kreimer
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Seismic Risk ◽  
International Aid ◽  
Resource Mobilization ◽  
The Other ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Significant Burden ◽  
The One

This paper identifies key sustainability issues arising in earthquake-related projects financed by The World Bank. First, Bank-financed reconstruction activities are briefly described within the background of the Bank's objectives in development. Second, the connections between human activities and development decisions on the one hand and seismic risk and vulnerability on the other are discussed. The multiple nature of earthquake-related losses are identified, including economic (direct and indirect), time-related and institutional losses. Third, resource mobilization efforts following disasters are discussed, including issues related to local and international aid. Fourth, the inclusion of measures geared to preventing losses in Bank-financed reconstruction efforts are explored within the overall context of preserving sustainability and reducing vulnerability. The paper offers the conclusion that the losses from vulnerable development amount to a significant burden to member countries governments, institutions, and populations.

Trust-Funded Partnership Programmes of the World Bank under the ario

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-148
Author(s):  
Andrea E. Stumpf
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Fund Flows ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
International Partnership ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Initiatives

This article suggests that the variety and complexity of international partnership programmes, especially those that contract major fund flows, can be sustained only if partners are able to allocate roles and responsibilities amongst themselves. The premise of this article is simple. Lest there be any doubt, agreed terms set forth in signed agreements and adopted partnership documents should be considered ‘rules of the organization’ under the ario, and should be recognized in allocating responsibility among international organizations and other partners in international development initiatives. A practical look at trust-funded partnership programmes involving the World Bank underscores the importance of lex specialis under the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations, including with respect to claims by third parties. At stake is the viability of such collaborative international development initiatives, which rests on the ability of partners to legitimately set their own terms for acknowledgment by others.

10 Reflections

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lichtenstein Natalie
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Asian Development Bank ◽  
Development Bank ◽  
Multilateral Development Banks ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
African Development Bank ◽  
Financial Environment

Chapter 10, Reflections, draws on the histories of AIIB’s predecessors to single out themes that may prove relevant for AIIB’s future development. Examples are taken from the stories of the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Asian Development Bank (AsDB), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Principal themes are: economic and financial environment; international relations and politics; funding; membership changes; major shareholders; clients and operations; leadership and governance; and attitudes toward change. While AIIB has been established in a world far different from the second half of the twentieth century that saw the birth of its predecessors, many of these aspects of the development of these multilateral development banks may prove similarly influential as AIIB’s future unfolds.

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