In July 1944 in Bretton Woods New Hampshire 730 delegates gathered for the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference.

This conference resulted in the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development later renamed the World Bank.

The discussions attempted the creation of an international trade organization which did initiate the International Agreement on Trades and Tariffs (IATT) although a formal organization did not actually get created until 1995 as the World Trade Organization

Why

Economic unilateralism was considered by many as a root cause of the turbulence and warlike behaviors of the late 19th and early 20th century.

While structuring international support for post-second world war recovery was top of mind the conference intent was to bring 43 countries negotiators together to create ways to move global economies from unilateral to multilateral foundations.

Countries operating on the “it’s all about me” basis is not the best way to achieve universal posterity.

Conflict arises from the insular behavior and the focus is not on things that are good for everyone but rather good for us.

The current US thinking, spearheaded by Donald Trump is exemplary of this.  Perhaps seventy-five years later the visions and dreams of 75 years ago are about to be crushed.

Learning from the Past

The Bretton Woods conference focused on the consequences of unilateral economic behaviour and strove to develop ways to overcome the negative impacts of the “me first” approach.

We have overcome much of the root causes of international aggression in the past 75 years and perhaps our success is making us complacent.  Now is the time to make the IMF, World Bank and WTO stronger, not to do away with them.