THE IMF AND WORLD BANK LIKE ALL SUPRANATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION AGAINST HUMANITY

THE IMF AND WORLD BANK LIKE ALL SUPRANATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION AGAINST HUMANITY

Introduction

            The World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also referred to as the Bretton Woods institutions were formed after the Second World War in 1945. They were formed to manage how money flow within the international system, regulation of the exchange rates, and global payments to promote international trade. The goal was to attain stability in the exchange rates and encourage member States to eradicate trade restrictions. The two bodies serve as vital intergovernmental pillars supporting the world’s financial and economic stability. However, from time to time, their functions have been broadened based on the prevailing economic situations in the member countries. This has often been exacerbated due to lack of a uniform monetary policy in the world. In the movie, “IMF and World Bank are weapons of war”, Pilger narrates how the policies attached to debts offered primarily to the third world countries has caused diverse effects in those countries. The adverse effects are as a result of the operational models and political influence in these financial institutions. Therefore, this assignment aims at presenting an argument on how the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are weapons of destruction against humanity.

Debt conditions   

            These international financial organizations are dominant in the world and regulate the economies of most countries. They assist countries in regaining economic and financial stability in several areas. In the movie, Pilger, focus on the implications of debt in the economies of the third world countries. Pilger views the debt by the third world countries as a battle through other means. The total amounts that the developing countries owe to the developed countries are more compared to the donations they get from them. In the Philippines, 60 per cent of the government budget is used in servicing debt un-repayable debts incurred during the Marcos regime. Most of the developing countries are low-income, and their economies are not self-sustaining, as a result, they usually rely on borrowing from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Based on the unstable and fluctuating economic conditions, several countries mainly the third world owes much debt to them.

Effects of debt conditions on the lives of citizens

Suffering by the masses

However, the debts are not given freely; the institutions usually enforce requirements which must be adhered to by the recipient countries. Kaiser, p.1, affirms that loans always have strings attached. The debt still piles as the independent states encounter challenges in the balance of payment. As a result, the need for new loans may arise from the same institutions provided they have not surpassed the loan limits. In most of the third world countries, their abilities to repay the loans are uncertain; thus, the World Bank and the IMF enforces conditions to help such economies regain stabilities. However, the terms always did not benefit the residents and citizens of a particular country. When financial allocations for the essential services relied upon by the masses, the people suffer due to limited spaces on such facilities. Reduction in budgets implies that quality will be compromised as well as access. For example, conditions aimed at minimizing public budgets implicates negatively on the lives of ordinary citizens who may use apathy and resistance as a means of defying such conditions.

Compromise of national development agenda

At a certain point, Pilger interacts with a family residing in a rubbish heap on a mountainous region. The environment was dilapidated, and the living conditions were pathetic due to lack of clean water and sanitation challenges. The population was just a sample of many other people globally living under similar circumstances. The problems are as a result of loan servicing. The leadership of the countries are entrapped by the loan conditions to the extent that they cannot provide the necessary services to its population. Every government is mandated to serve and deliver on the needs of its citizens, however, the debt conditions set for them by the IMF and the World Bank act as a barrier, thus, comprising national development.

Slavery of the third world by the developed

            Pilger narrates the world experience in 1985 through live aid which was a show of generosity. From the charitable donations remitted, the records showed the poorest countries in Africa given much money compared to the developed countries in the west and Europe. Due to political influence in the operations of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, there has been disparity on how countries are handled. Some states, especially in the developing countries, become subjects to countries at the core in the international system. Based on this criterion, the developing countries are forced to adhere to the regulations of the financial institutions which are controlled by countries like the United States. As a result, the countries substitute their sovereignty with the conditions causing a situation where they cannot independently make decisions. They are subjected to follow what the master wants to be on the safer side.

Exploitation

            In some instances, developed countries have used the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to assert their influence over certain countries. The United States of America used employed the same method to attain support for its foreign policy. During the Gulf war, the debt that Egypt owed the institutions were wiped off, while China and Iran were given loans for supporting the war. When Yemen exercised its sovereignty of voting against a resolution by the United Nations (UN) of going to war, the US stopped channelling its foreign aid to Yemen. Hence, it depicts that debts have always enabled the super powers to force other countries to support their positions. Every state is independent and should be allowed to make independent decisions; however, due to political influences in the leading international lending institutions, countries sovereignty has been curtailed. The financial institutions also have resulted in the underdevelopment of the undeveloped since the undeveloped are subjects to the developed. The developed exploit natural resource endowment in the regions for their industries and own advantage.

Structural adjustment programs

            The structural adjustment programs were introduced in the 1980s by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Their initiation was triggered by various economic situations in the third world. These were; the oil crisis, the economic depression, and instability in third world economies. As a result, the lenders’ introduced reforms on how the governments of the respective countries should operate to make their economies stable and to avoid fluctuations in their economies. The conditions were appealing to ideal economies, however, the WB and the IMF failed to apply the changes within specific countries depending on their prevailing circumstances. Thus, the program impacted negatively on the masses.

Adverse effect on the health sector

             The policies introduced parameters to align the operations in the health sector in developing countries. Thomson, Kentikelemis, and Stubbs, pp.77-79, shows that regulated negatively affected the functioning within the health sector. The financial allocation was minimized, which affected the quality of services as well as the number of patients to be handled by the facilities. Supply of medicines and the equipment were also affected due to insufficient funding. As a result, the quality of Medicare was severely affected due to the lack of essential materials. In some countries, women were forced to resort to traditional birth through the use of mid-wives which was unsafe for both the health of the infant and the mother. It led to the death of the masses who depended on the public facilities for medical services.

Unemployment

            Due to the programs, many were laid off from their jobs as a way of minimizing expenses in the public sector. Employment is vital to individuals’ lives since it is the source of their daily needs. However, the structural adjustment programs made governments to reduce the number of the employed as well as minimizing their salaries. It, thus, led to social problems in society as people resorted to other means of generating income.

Conclusion

             The supranational institutions were established to serve the interest of all the member States by ensuring favorable terms of trade and stability in the exchange rate. However, due to lack of monetary policies and political influence by the superpowers like the United States, their impartiality has not been realized. In several instances, they have been viewed as oppressive institutions based on their policies and loan conditions to the developing countries.

Work Cited   

Pilger. IMF and the World Bank are weapons of war, accessed through;

Kaiser. Interfering in national sovereignty, accessed through;

https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/shortcomings-and-weaknesses-structural-adjustment-measures-recent-decades,  2018, pp.1

Thomson, Kentikelemis, and Stubbs. Structural adjustment programs adverse effects

Accessed through; https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-017-0059-2 , 2017, pp.77-79

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