Refusing To Share: How The West Created BRICS New Development Bank

...The recent creation of the New Development Bank by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which will compete with the IMF and World Bank, is yet another example of how international control is skittering away from those nations that are failing to adapt to a changing world.  In a certain sense, falling behind like this is actually quite an achievement, given that Western countries not only invented the IMF and World Bank – up until now, the preeminent international lenders of last resort – but also gave themselves a controlling stake within both institutions. They set the rules of the game. Therefore, all they had to do to stay on top of that game was throw the other players a crumb once in a while.

It’s not exactly rocket science.  When people or countries feel they have a chance to succeed, they are motivated to participate in international institutions. Generating this mindset doesn’t even demand that the rules of the game be completely fair or that the rewards for success be particularly large. Most people are willing to settle for a reasonable chance of success and modest rewards when it occurs. Provide these things and you can spin out any advantage you may have for a startlingly long time.

One of the modest rewards implicitly offered by the IMF and World Bank was the chance to someday participate within these institutions as an important partner, i.e. to have a real say in the projects these institutions undertake.  For nations are not accorded equal voting power at the IMF and World Bank. Instead, voting power is allocated based on the economic strength of a country...