ed and military power is less often used to resolve conflicts among the Great Powers. In a multi-polar environment, international organizations and international regimes, "a recognized set of [internationally applicable] rules devised by governments . . . for regulating conflict-prone behavior, play an important role in setting the norms, rules and procedures which accompany the political bargaining process among nation states (Haas 396; Kratochwil & Ruggie 22). Examples of formal international organizations include the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and issue specific regulatory agencies such as IAEA (international control of nuclear energy and proliferation), IATA (international aviation rules) as well as less formal arrangements such as the international coffee and textile fibre agreements. International organizations interact with other international organizations and regimes and with nation states and subdivisions thereof. Keohane & Nye say that international organizations "help set the international agenda, and act as catalysts for coalition-formation and as arenas for political initiatives and linkage by weak states" (35).
In the dynamic world economy and in international relations generally, international organizations are not static. They "evolve and change over time in response to various economic and political processes [and] with the passage of time, regimes generally acquire additional features and become less consistent internally" (Young 36). Keohane & Nye stress that "an international regime that is becoming ineffective or is not serving important issues may cause increasing politicization, as dissatisfied governments press for change" (33).
Historical Evolution of the Role of the World Bank
The World Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods international economic conference of 44 allied and neutral nations. The principal miss...