"In a study that contributes to IR and IPE theory, Ruth Ben-Artzi raises substantive issues relating to aid, development, international relations and globalization. Regional development banks (RDBs), designed by politicians and economists to maneuver through labyrinths of economic, social, and political development, possess the potential to be central players in the long-term planning involved in healing and advancing poverty-plagued regions. However, RDBs in particular have received little attention. With a systematic analysis comparing four central regional development banks, this book explores why there's a variation in strategy despite similar institutional design. The formal arrangements and raison d'être of RDBs is to assist developing countries in the process of poverty alleviation - a task that is often a risky investment. Focusing on the dichotomy between their banking and development roles, Ben-Artzi demonstrates that RDBs are potentially critical catalysts in the fight against poverty, even with their institutional limitations"--
"The theoretical foundations for this book, rooted in the ongoing realism-liberalism (neoliberal institutionalism) debate, as well as more recent constructivist approaches to cooperation, provide a useful focal point for the study of RDBs. The comparisonof four institutions allows for an assessment that goes beyond interests, preferences and outcomes. It provides a platform from which differences in norms, ideas, and culture, as well as hegemonic configuration, can be analyzed. The synthesis of these issues requires careful analysis. Although these underlying themes may be theoretical in nature, the ideological positions that they generate have a strong bearing on the "real world." An understanding of the theoretical premise of development can shed light on the approaches, critiques, and possibilities of development assistance and poverty alleviation policies"--
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