World Bank

Global governance’ in our vocabulary does not imply a global 'government', but rather the institution set up for cooperation, coordination, and common action between durable sovereign states…people and nations are beginning to agree To take the next steps together. They are reaching a consensus by practical procedures rather than by the formal voting of governmental representatives; many International functions, especially those requiring the most foresight and operational flexibility, and be carried out through non governmental arrangements. –Club of Rome

Fidencio Alvarez abandoned his bean and corn farm in southern Honduras because of the rising cost of seeds, fuel and food. After months of one meal a day, he hiked with his wife and six children to find work in the city.

Author Raj Patel explains what is behind the global food crisis and who is profiting from it. NAM Editor Sandip Roy interviewed Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System."

“Much like the time leading up to World War I, coalitions and regional blocs could form to contest American supremacy. If one of these entities could consolidate its power quickly enough, a new bipolar world could emerge. Potentially, China, a pan-Arab coalition, or a unified European Union (EU) could become this new superpower.”--Robert DeYeso. Newer World Order The Return to a Multipolar Era 2006

President Rafael Correa’s allegations that intelligence services in Ecuador had been infiltrated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have led to a shake-up in the armed forces of unforeseeable consequences.

Financial markets are tumbling. The world economy is starting to sputter. Food prices have shot up so far, so fast, that there are riots in the streets of many poor nations. It's a hard time to be one of the masters of the global economy. Those leaders -- finance ministers from all over the world -- are gathering in Washington this weekend to sort out their reactions to the most profound global economic crises in at least a decade. The situation could reveal the limitations that international economic institutions face in dealing with the risks inherent to global capitalism. "There's got to be something coming out of the weekend, a way to visibly assume public responsibility for trying to limit the damage that financial markets can do to our society," said Colin Bradford, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "The pressure is on politicians this weekend to come up with an answer. . . . What is the power structure going to do about this?"

The New York Times had a good, concise editorial yesterday on the global surge in food prices: Last week, the president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, warned that 33 nations are at risk of social unrest because of the rising prices of food. "For countries where food comprises from half to three-quarters of consumption, there is no margin for survival," he said.

BERLIN: Overcoming earlier misgivings about its direction and leadership, the World Bank said Friday it had raised $25.1 billion in aid for the world's poorest countries, a record sum that includes donations by China and Egypt, nations that were once recipients of such aid. For the first time, Britain overtook the United States as the biggest donor, a highly symbolic change given Washington's traditional influence in choosing the bank's president and charting its policies.

The loonie is one of the currencies shouldering a disproportionate share of the U.S. greenback's decline, Tamim Bayoumi, head of the North American division of the International Monetary Fund's western hemisphere department, said on Tuesday. "The fall in the U.S. dollar is probably on net a good thing," said Mr. Bayoumi, echoing comments made by the IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the G20 meeting last weekend. "We've had a view for a long time the U.S. dollar is overvalued and that to lower global imbalances it needs to depreciate."

Russia will soon change its World Bank status from that of borrower to donor, the bank's president, Robert Zoellick, said on Thursday. Speaking at a news conference preceding this fall's session of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Zoellick said his bank is seeking closer partnership with Russia, partly to help the country in its transition from borrower to donor.