Since its founding in 1944, the World Bank has evolved from a lender focused on European reconstruction into the preeminent international institution for economic development and poverty reduction. This Backgrounder examines the Bank's history and role.

International trade and finance analyst Rebecca M. Nelson offers an overview of multilateral development banks and outlines the issues they present for the United States Congress in this Congressional Research Service report.

Dr. Jim Yong Kim, U.S. nominee for the World Bank presidency, gave this statement to the World Bank Board of Directors on April 11, 2012.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala puts forward three major challenges--creating jobs, investing in the human capital of the poor, and building institutions--that she expects to pursue if chosen to lead the World Bank.

Jagdish Bhagwati criticizes President Obama for nominating Jim Yong Kim to the World Bank presidency over candidates who would pursue pro-reform, pro-growth policies.

Terra Lawson-Remer urges the U.S. Congress to safeguard funding for multilateral development banks as blanket budget cuts loom.

Olivier De Schutter discusses what the G20 should do to prepare the world for food crises.

Michael A. Levi and Katherine Michonski discuss the consequences of the World Bank's refusal to fund a controversial coal-fired power plant in South Africa.

In this Wall Street Journal op-ed, Sebastian Mallaby writes that persuading China to change its currency policy would be a worthy goal for a 21^st-Century Bretton Woods. It will be up to the two great powers -- the U.S. and China -- to fashion a deal that brings China into the heart of the multilateral system.

Shantayanan Devarajan, chief economist of the World Bank's Africa region, discusses how Africa will be affected by the global financial crisis.

A mounting food crisis threatens grave consequences for the world’s poor. Experts blame rising oil prices and self-interested agricultural policies.

In this Washington Post op-ed, Sebastian Mallaby argues that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have pushed trade populism beyond the point at which it can be easily forgiven.  Presidential primaries always seem to drive Democrats to the left—and this year's primaries have been painfully prolonged, damaging the party's credibility.

Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the largest urban growth in the world, but most development efforts continue to target rural communities.

A South American development bank proposed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is likely to go forward, but not as he envisioned it.

A collection of non-governmental organizations, led by Friends of the Earth, has published " How the World Bank's Energy Framework Sells the Climate and Poor People Short ." 

The World Bank, a U.S.-led oil consortium, and Chad's government came together for a pipeline plan that was hailed as a new model to help developing nations escape poverty and avoid corruption. But unstable Chad's decision to modify the agreement to buy arms threatened to doom the arrangement.

Former Pentagon official Paul Wolfowitz is now reveling in the role of reformer at the World Bank, where he has made corruption a major theme of his first year as chief. But fighting corruption, like building democracy, may be the work of generations.