Search results

Literature on economic cooperation among sovereign nation state economies has been extensive. In the post-WWII decades, the two Breton Woods institutions, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, each with 184 member states, have been instituted to sustain the global financial system for the noncommunist free-market economies. Under the umbrella of the UN, the institutions such as the UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNITAR, the WHO; and the World Food Organization (WFO) have their respective economic assignments. The WTO, currently with 148 sovereign nation state members, plays a large role in the negotiation of global trade agreements; an international regime of free and competitive trade has been a subject of numerous substantive negotiations. In 2008, the WTO failed to bridge the gap between the developed nations led by the EU and the USA, and the developing nations led by China, India, and Brazil, leaving the Doha Agreement still unsuccessful. Negotiations may resume in 2009.