International Monetary Power

This book provides a thorough overview of how money is used as a tool to achieve international political aims.

Jonathan Kirshner here examines how states can and have used international currency relationships and arrangements as instruments of coercive power for the advancement of state security. Kirshner lays the groundwork for the study of what he calls monetary power by providing a taxonomy of the forms that such power can take and of the conditions under which it can have effect. He then establishes the actual existence of monetary power by showing how the taxonomy is supported by the historical record, including cases from nations from all over the globe and throughout the twentieth century. He uncovers how monetary power is affected by different monetary regimes, the sources of its success and failure, and the factors that lead states to turn to its use. Kirshner thus succeeds in developing a generalized framework for the analysis of an important yet neglected form of state power that is likely to be of increasing importance in the post-Cold War era. Although some distinguished scholars have touched on the issue of monetary power, there has been until now no standard text on the subject. Integrating security studies and international political economy, this book is a timely synthesis that will be important to the entire discipline of international relations.

The Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 resulted in the formation of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank and helped lay the foundation for an unprecedented expansion of international commerce. Yet six decades later, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the central characteristics of the Bretton Woods system remain disputed—and the subject of continuing public policy debate. Relying on extensive access to IMF, World Bank, and other archives, the authors show that the history of international monetary relations since Bretton Woods is one of "orderly change"—that is, change within a sturdy but supple framework. Even during the years of fixed exchange rates, very different practices characterized international monetary relations immediately after World War II, during the 1950s, and during the 1960s. Later, when the fixed exchange-rate system collapsed, underlying commitments to trade liberalization in the context of continuing national economic policy autonomy survived and even flourished. However, the resulting international economic order is now in grave danger: the tension between states' autonomy and their mutual openness has become acute, as international monetary structures no longer appear capable of mediating between these objectives. David M. Andrews and the contributors to Orderly Change examine past transitions as a means of suggesting possible avenues for current and future policymaking.

As an economic superpower, China has become an increasingly important player in the international monetary system. Its foreign exchange reserves are the largest in the world and its exchange rate policy has become a major subject of international economic diplomacy. The internationalization of the renminbi (RMB) raises critical questions in international policy circles: What kinds of power is China acquiring in international monetary relations? What are the priorities of the Chinese government? What explains its preferences? In The Great Wall of Money, a distinguished group of contributors addresses these questions from distinct perspectives, revealing the extent to which China’s choices, and global monetary affairs, will be shaped by internal political factors and affect world politics. The RMB is a likely competitor for the dollar in the next couple of decades; its emergence as an important international currency would have substantial effects on the balance of power between the United States and China. By illuminating the politics of China’s international monetary relations, this book provides a timely account of the global economy, the role of the renminbi in international relations, and the trajectory of China’s continuing ascendency in the coming decades.

This book examines how the International Monetary Fund engages in the politics of ideas to shape domestic institutional change. Drawing on case studies from post-Soviet Central Asia, André Broome explains that how governments interpret their policy options mediates the IMF's influence over economic reform during periods of crisis and uncertainty.

This book proposes a new framework for explaining and anticipating foreign economic policy changes, at the same time providing a fascinating account of three American policy shifts that transformed the postwar international monetary system. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Why the dollar will remain the world's most powerful currency Monetary rivalry is a fact of life in the world economy. Intense competition between international currencies like the US dollar, Europe's euro, and the Chinese yuan is profoundly political, going to the heart of the global balance of power. But what exactly is the relationship between currency and power, and what does it portend for the geopolitical standing of the United States, Europe, and China? Popular opinion holds that the days of the dollar, long the world’s dominant currency, are numbered. By contrast, Currency Power argues that the current monetary rivalry still greatly favors America’s greenback. Benjamin Cohen shows why neither the euro nor the yuan will supplant the dollar at the top of the global currency hierarchy. Cohen presents an innovative analysis of currency power and emphasizes the importance of separating out the various roles that international money might have. After systematically exploring the links between currency internationalization and state power, Cohen turns to the state of play among today’s top currencies. The greenback, he contends, is the "indispensable currency"—the one that the world can’t do without. Only the dollar is backed by all the economic and political resources that make a currency powerful. Meanwhile, the euro is severely handicapped by structural defects in the design of its governance mechanisms, and the yuan suffers from various practical limitations in both finance and politics. Contrary to today’s growing opinion, Currency Power demonstrates that the dollar will continue to be the leading global currency for some time to come.

"Gavin demonstrates that Bretton Woods was in fact a highly politicized system that was prone to crisis and required constant intervention and controls to continue functioning. More important, postwar monetary relations were not a salve to political tensions, as is often contended.