Creating Development or Barriers : A Case Study of the Application of World Bank Economic Conditionalities to Mali

Abstract: This is an International Relations thesis that will address the current situation in Mali regarding the conditions attached to aid and debt-relief by the World Bank. These conditions are of a neoliberal nature introducing privatization and liberalization of prices in the cotton sector in Mali. The goals with the use of these conditions are to promote economic development and growth in order to reduce poverty in Mali. However, these conditions have been argued by some authors and reports to inefficient in achieving poverty reduction. It have been questioned whether the neoliberal ideology used by the World Bank is the most suitable for the current development situation in Mali.