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The Exchange takes a break today to bring you this special from America Abroad. World Bank Group has spent more than $400 billion addressing global development issues ranging from poverty to the environment. But lately, if the public has heard anything about the World Bank at all, it was from headlines over the controversy surrounding former president Paul Wolfowitz. Despite the recent surge of attention, how many of us really know what the World Bank does? This special looks at the role of the world's largest development institution and the challenges it faces in lifting the third world out of poverty, explores the origins of the World Bank, the lessons learned over the past 60 years, and how those lessons drive its mission today, talks to key decision-makers about the World Bank's role in Latin America after the debt crisis of the 1980s and visits World Bank projects in Tanzania and Laos to take a closer look at its work on the ground. More information about this special is available at the America Abroad website.