Site Selection: Chasing Modernity

Introducing the site selection for our second subtheme, Chasing Modernity: Finance and Technology!

In Washington DC

The International Monetary Fund is an international financial institution with the goal to “achieve sustainable growth and prosperity” for its participating countries. The IMF is also an international institution of the United Nations that provides a platform for collaboration and exchange of information and know-how on finance-related issues.

We chose the IMF as one of our locations as it is one of the key international players in the topic of finance and technology, especially when overlapping with international relations. Furthemore, the IMF provides a shared platform and facilitates research for many innovations in the field of international economics and finance, supporting “economic policies that promote financial stability.” The IMF lies at the center of trade relations and global economic and financial interconnectedness. It is one of the international relations which is said to maintain balance among the various powers of the world while ensuring economic stability in times of crisis. 

While many controversies have surrounded the IMF and its conducts, we believe it is still a crucial stakeholder to be studied to fully understand global economic and financial relations. From a more political perspective, the IMF is one of the many international organizations in which China has been seeking to increase its influence more recently. How will such attempts play out? How is China going to navigate its economic catch up with the Western world, its financial sectors and their governance?