Sovereignty, developing countries and international financial institutions: a reply to David Williams

In his article Aid and Sovereignty: Quasi-States and the International Financial Institutions(2), David Williams claims that '(t)he activities of the IFIs [international financial institutions, RL] in their relations with many developing countries certainly suggest that the substance of state sovereignty does not amount to very much more than a show' (p. 573). In my reply, 1 beg to differ with respect to the causes of the changing state sovereignty in developing countries and the role of international financial institutions, and of the World Bank in particular, in this process.(3) By offering a comparison concerning the structure of the interactions developing countries have with the IFIs and private capital marl ets, respectively, I conclude that the relationship between developing countries and private capital markets has more substantial effects on the changing nature of state sovereignty in the developing world.