Beyond Bretton Woods

Dr Kashif Hasan Khan

How economic corridors are reshaping globalisation

Over the past two decades, globalisation has experienced a gradual transformation. Long dominated by Bretton Woods institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, the landscape of global development finance is now more pluralistic. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has emerged as an alternative, offering large-scale infrastructure financing that typically lacks the policy conditionalities associated with traditional Western lenders. Through state-backed institutions such as the Export–Import Bank and the China Development Bank, Chinese lending has, in some cases, rivaled or exceeded World Bank funding across parts of the Global South. This diversification in financing sources raises important considerations about sovereignty, development priorities, and the evolving architecture of global economic cooperation.

Historically, postcolonial states often turned to Western institutions for development funding. While this model contributed to success stories in countries like South Korea, Chile, and post-liberalisation India, it also led, in many low-income contexts, to repeated debt burdens and reduced policy space. The emphasis on structural reforms sometimes came at the expense of tailored, locally grounded development strategies.

By contrast, the BRI model emphasises physical infrastructure—railways, ports, energy plants—as a catalyst for growth. While concerns around debt sustainability and transparency have been raised, many recipient countries perceive BRI investments as a path to reclaiming economic agency. Projects like the Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway or the Lagos–Ibadan rail line illustrate how infrastructure can reshape regional connectivity and economic potential.

However, this evolution in development financing is not simply a China-versus-West dichotomy. Recent analyses, such as those from the Committee for the Abol