Making War Safe for Capitalism

Elliot Dolan-Evans examines how the World Bank and IMF have implemented economic restructuring programs during active conflicts and the effects on vulnerable communities.

Using Ukraine’s War in Donbas as a detailed case study, the book analyzes reforms in agriculture, gas, and pensions and how these shaped political economy outcomes.

It argues that institutions have shifted toward de-risking environments for private capital, deploying upstream (policy) and downstream (project-level) reforms even amid ongoing violence.

The book highlights everyday impacts on residents—displacement, food insecurity, rising energy costs, and pressures on care labor—and questions appropriateness of neoliberal de-risking in war.

Dolan-Evans situates the Ukraine case within broader institutional changes since Bretton Woods and the Sustainable Development Goals era, drawing implications for future global public goods work.