Award Date

12-2014

Degree Type

Honors Thesis

Department

Political Science

Advisor 1

Jonathan Strand

Advisor 2

John Tuman

Advisor 3

Andrew Hanson

Number of Pages

70

Abstract

In recent decades, the promotion of policies that are environmentally friendly has become an important goal in U.S. foreign policy. One way that the United States has influence over protecting the environment is through the policies attached to projects funded by the multilateral development banks (MDBs). This gives the U.S. the ability to indirectly fund projects in developing countries. Using data provided by the United States Treasury, I examined U.S. voting decisions on projects from 2004 to 2011. These votes come from multiple development banks including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), African Development Bank (AfDB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). I examined how the United States has behaved on lending projects, and what this means for U.S. environmental protection and foreign policy. What I found was that in general, environmental factors do play a significant role in predicting how the United States votes in MDBs.

Keywords

Development banks; Environmental policy; Environmental protection; International relations

Disciplines

American Politics | Environmental Policy | International Relations | Political Science

Language

English

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