Based on archival sources, this history of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im), focuses on its role in the growing involvement of the U.S. in the international economy. Over the last two decades the Bank has carried on its Congressionally-mandated mission in an increasingly complicated environment; brought on by changes in private capital markets, Congressional constraints on its budgets, major financial crises in Latin America and Southeast Asia. It has survived despite the latest developments in communications and information technology, and the demands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) devoted to environmental protection.