Economic cooperation has been playing a substantial role in tailoring the diplomatic relations among countries since the ancient times. In this respect, China’s foreign policy constituted on the grounds of military power to protect the Silk Road in the third century BC is a substantial example. International trade has played a very dominant role during both the war and peace times and constituted the hub of economic cooperation among countries. Each of these early developments has helped to the signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, which is accepted as the first solid base of today’s multilateral trading system.

Apart from those early steps, II. World War constitutes a landmark on the realization of GATT, which is the predecessor of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It’d be sufficient to have a look at the daring meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt in 1941 to remember how economic cooperation nominates peace and security. This meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt in 1941 paved the way for the famous Atlantic Charter, which was a policy statement of the allies. Certainly, the examination of the Atlantic Charter is out of our scope but mentioning the 5th Clause would be useful to remind the importance of economic cooperation in constructing peace and democracy. The 5th Clause of the Atlantic Charter foresaw fullest cooperation between all countries within the economic matters (United Nations, 1941). Certainly, it is adequate to state that the end of the II. World War gave the opportunity to the Allies to re-shape the international legal, political and economic environment. Post-war international legal and political environment have been designed upon the rules and legislation of the United Nations and International Court of Justice. On the other hand, economic environment was proposed to be constructed upon the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Trade Organization (ITO).

Since the legal and political re-shaping during the post-war period is out of our scope, we are content with giving brief information on the international economic environment and its main organizations. In this respect, we have to remind the Bretton Woods Conference held in July 1944 so as to discuss postwar international economic order. Bretton Woods Conference ended with the conclusion of establishing the World Bank, the IMF and the ITO, which correspond to a three-pillared structure for the post-war international economic order. These new-proposed institutions were referred to Bretton Woods Institutions.

As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is D. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Trade Organization (ITO), which were referred to Bretton Woods Institutions correspond to a three-pillared structure for the post-war international economic order. The information about the other options:

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) signed in 1947 is accepted as the first solid base of today’s multilateral trading system. The GATT is neither an international organization nor an institution. It is simply an international agreement. GATT is the predecessor of the World Trade Organization.