Economic multilateralism 80 years after Bretton Woods.

The article examines the evolution and current challenges of the global economic institutions established at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, which aimed to foster international cooperation for economic recovery, development, social stability, and democracy. It traces the transition from the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates and embedded liberalism to a more market-oriented global economy marked by rapid globalization and financial integration after the 1970s, followed by a recent slowdown and rising geopolitical tensions, especially between the United States and China. The article highlights how these geopolitical and domestic political challenges threaten multilateral cooperation on critical global issues such as climate change, pandemics, and economic stability, emphasizing the need for renewed investment in and reform of multilateral institutions like the IMF, World Bank, WHO, and WTO. It argues that sustaining effective multilateralism requires balancing the interests of advanced, middle-, and low-income countries while addressing domestic political polarization and focusing international coordination on clear, widely supported global public goods.