The War Origins of the Liberal Order: World War I and the founding of International Economic Organizations by Paul Poast

The RCGA Security and Global Affairs Program presents Paul Poast, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Chicago.

This project unpacks the legacy of allied economic cooperation during World War I. The core features of prominent international institutions that operate in the modern global economy — the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and even the World Trade Organization — were first devised during World War I. Of the various economic resources in need by the allied powers, food supply was deemed critical. The strain of war compelled the major allied powers to experiment with various forms of institutionalized food cooperation, including the creation of international organizations possessing supranational authority. It was through this experimentation that the allied powers created the “Wheat Executive” in late 1916. This body then served as the template for subsequent allied economic organizations, which were then reconstituted at the onset of World War II. Following the second World War, these economic institutions served as the blueprints for designing the international institutions that governed the global economy after 1945.

To join this webinar, use this Zoom Link or visit the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs events.