What’s Been Missing from Conventional Histories of Bretton Woods?

Abstract

This book repositions the groundbreaking Bretton Woods conference of July 1944 as the first large-scale multilateral North-South dialogue on global financial governance. It moves beyond the usual focus on Anglo-American interests by highlighting the influence of delegations from Latin America, India, the Soviet Union, France, and others. It also investigates how state and private interests intermingled, collided, and compromised during the negotiations on the way to a set of regulations and institutions that still partly frame global economic governance in the early twenty-first century. Together, these essays lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive analysis of Bretton Woods as a pivotal site of multilateralism in international history. Acknowledgements; Contents; Editors and Contributors; Chapter 1 Bretton Woods: A Global Perspective ; Part I Bretton Woods: The Pre-War Order; Chapter 2 What's Been Missing from Conventional Histories of Bretton Woods? ; Bretton Woods' Incremental Origins; Bretton Woods' Procedural Multilateralism; Bretton Woods' International Development Focus; Conclusion; Chapter 3 "Prelude to the Future": The Antecedents of the Bretton Woods Architecture ; The Ontology of 'Economic' Security; Reflections on the League Experience; Conclusion; Part II Multinational Perspectives: Europe Chapter 4 The Benelux's Monetary Diplomacy and the Bretton Woods Conference The Reaction of the Benelux to the Keynes Plan; The Reactions of the Benelux to the White Plan; The 1943 Benelux Monetary Agreement and Bretton Woods; Benelux Coordination During the Bretton Woods Conference; Conclusion: Gutt and Beyen at the IMF and the IBRD; Chapter 5 French Monetary Policy and the Bretton Woods System: Criticisms, Proposals and Conflicts ; France at the Bretton Woods Conference; France's Deliberate Withdrawal; From Reform Proposals to a Political Clash; Conclusion Chapter 6 The Soviet Union and the Bretton Woods Conference Internal Deliberations; Participation; Intermediate Evaluations; The Final Decision; Conclusion; Part III Multinational Perspectives: Asia and the Americas; Chapter 7 "Asia" at Bretton Woods: India, China, and Australasia in Comparative Perspective ; Introduction; The Delegates; The Indian Delegation; The Chinese Delegation; The Australian and New Zealand Delegations; The Issues; The Implications; Chapter 8 Assessing the "Multilateral" Nature of the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference: An Analysis of Indian Participation ; Introduction The 'South' at the Bretton Woods ConferenceIndia at the Bretton Woods Conference; Development Goals; Convertibility of Sterling Balances; Quota Allocation; Management Role; After the Bretton Woods Conference; Conclusions; Chapter 9 Voice and Vote for the Weaker Nations: Mexico's Bretton Woods ; Mexican Antecedents; The Build-Up to Bretton Woods; The Bretton Woods Conference; Conclusion; Chapter 10 Canada and Bretton Woods ; The White and Keynes Plans; The Canadian Plan; The Joint Statement; Bretton Woods; Conclusion; Part IV Public Figures and Private Sector Interests Chapter 11 Beyen at Bretton Woods: "Much More Significant Under the Surface..." Jan Willem Beyen's Early Career; Beyen's Views on Economic Policy; Beyen at Bretton Woods; The Debate Surrounding the Liquidation of BIS; Conclusion; Chapter 12 Dean Acheson, Bretton Woods and the American Role in the International Economy ; Dean Acheson's Career; Acheson and Economic Diplomacy; The Bretton Woods Conference, July 1944; Persuading the American Public; Acheson and Congress: Securing Legislation; Conclusion; Chapter 13 "New Lanes in Uncharted Seas": The Federal Reserve and Bretton Woods ; Introduction