Should the International Financial Institutions Play a Role in the Implementation and Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law

This Article considers whether the IFIs should play a role in the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. It consists of 6 parts. Part I is a short introduction to the topic. Part II is a brief overview of the structure and functions of the IFIs. Part III describes the way in which their operations have evolved since their creation. It focuses primarily on the World Bank and the IMF, because they are the most important of the IFIs and the most heavily involved in post-conflict situations around the world. Part IV describes the roles that the IFIs play in countries in conflict. Part V considers the various steps the IFIs could take to promote the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. It also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of the IFIs becoming more actively engaged in the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. Part VI contains my two conclusions. The first is that, except in extreme cases, the costs of having the IFIs actively engaged in the enforcement of international humanitarian law outweigh the benefits. The second is that the benefits of having the IFIs involved in the implementation of international humanitarian law exceed the costs