The strength of liberal democratic ideas has been helped by the strong patterns of political and economic cooperation that have emerged among liberal democracies, particularly since World War ll. Even before the war had ended, representatives of 44 countries met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to discuss their plans for the postwar world and agreed to promote global free trade. Out of Bretton woods came the world bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, which was replaced by the World Trade Organization, or WTO, in 1995). the IMF have provided financing to encourage economic development and international trade, and the reduction of barriers to global free trade is negotiated under the auspices of the WTO
Three other organizations have helped liberal democracies to work together