Christopher Love, '06

On March 21, Dr. Philip Moeller of the United Nations World Bank addressed the International Politics class of Dr. Torimiro. Dr. Moeller's lecture concerned the "implementation of theoretical frameworks in international political problem solving." The lecture was geared toward evoking the student audience to consider the necessity of applying generally accepted theories to situations that arise in international politics, thus providing a basic framework in which to search for solutions to varied and complex problems.

Dr. Moeller gave another lecture in the Sigmond Recital Hall that same afternoon. In this lecture, Dr. Moeller described the World Bank as the United Nations organization whose mission it is to eliminate poverty by giving loans and credit to countries which need financial aid for humanitarian purposes. Dr. Moeller defined the setup and inner workings of the World Bank by defining the functions of the two branches of the organization, these being the International Development Authority and the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development. The IDA to gives low-interest credit to development projects in poorer countries. The IBRD, which was the original organization within the World Bank, gives loans for the purpose of development in more affluent countries.

The World Bank Organization, as Dr. Moeller pointed out, attempts poverty-reduction by means of Sustainable Development. This is a concept implying the measure of the ability of humanitarian developers to implement programs in such a way that actions taken will be stable and not prone to fall apart immediately after completion by the developers. The World Bank attempts to meet the most basic needs of the impoverished by setting up of such developments as housings, clean water, and education in such a way that the benefit derived from these things can be maintained into the future by the beneficiaries as well as by the environment without any further input from the developers.

At various points in his speech, Dr. Moeller made reference to the evolution of the World Bank since its inception in 1945. The World Bank was originally founded for the purpose of rebuilding Europe after the Second World War, and during its early years, the Bank gave funding mostly to utilitarian projects such as the building of bridges and roads. These projects were appropriate in Europe, and it was assumed that the implementation of such projects in the Third World would spawn a "trickle down" effect in which the needy would eventually benefit from the implantation of this type of wealth. As was the case, the poor rarely benefited from such actions; and after seeing the misuse and non-sustainability of its early projects, the World Bank started to include the set-up of infrastructure, education, and organization as features of its projects, thus improving project-sustainability. Following its mission of poverty elimination, World Bank representatives now try to design their projects as much as possible around the input of poor while calling for the active involvement of the governments of those nations as well.

Dr. Moeller made a statement that the governments of World Bank-recipient countries must own their own poverty problems. This "owning of the problem" will, in theory, call for government involvement in finding possible solutions to the problems; and with the involvement of government, the problem of poverty is not pushed completely into the hands of the World Bank. While the World Bank exists to help those nations that need financial assistance, there must be co-operation between the government, the Bank, and the nation if any World Bank project is to achieve success.