Networks of Influence?: Developing Countries in a Networked Global Order »

Ngaire Woods is Professor of International Political Economy at Oxford University and Director of the Global Economic Governance Programme at University College, Oxford. Her recent books include The Politics of Global Regulation (edited with Walter Mattli ), The Globalizers: the IMF, the World Bank and their Borrowers, Exporting Good Governance: Temptations and Challenges in Canada's Aid Program (edited with Jennifer Welsh ) and Making Self-Regulation Effective in Developing Countries (edited with Dana Brown, Oxford University Press, 2007).

Leonardo Martinez-Diaz is Political Economy Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Deputy Director of the Partnership for the Americas Commission. His research focuses on the emerging economies, and the role of banking and finance and global governance. He has published many articles on the political economy of reform and global governance and has a forthcoming book Waiting for the Barbarians: The Politics of Banking-Sector Opening in the Emerging World.

Networks are thriving in global politics. Some bring policy-makers from different countries together to share problems and to forge possible solutions, free from rules of representation, decision-making, and transparency which constrain more formal international organizations. This book asks whether developing countries can benefit from such networks? Or are they safer to conduct their international relations in formal institutions? The answer varies. The key lies in how the network is structured and what it sets out to achieve. This book presents a fascinating account of how some networks have strengthened the position of developing country officials, both at home, and in their international negotiations. Equally, it points to conditions which make it perilous for developing countries to rely on networks.

List of Figures and Tables ix

Contributors xi

Abbreviation List xvii

Introduction: Developing Countries in a Networked Global Order Leonardo Martinez-Diaz Ngaire Woods 1

1 The G20: A Practitioner's Perspective Vanessa Rubio-Marquez 19

2 The G20: After Eight Years: How Effective a Vehicle for Developing-country Influence? Leonardo Martinez-Diaz 39

3 Finance Ministers and Central Bankers in East Asian Financial Cooperation Helen E. S. Nesadurai 63

4 Voice for the Weak: ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Groups on African Countries Emerging from Conflict Jochen Prantl 95

5 The Commission for Africa: A View Through the Prism of Networks Myles Wickstead Nicholas Bayne 123

6 Africa's G4 Network Khadija Bah 147

7 The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries' Finance Ministers' Network Matthew Martin Gerald Helleiner 171

8 Networking of Senior Budget Officials Alex Matheson Mickie Schoch Dirk-Jan Kraan 197

9 The Centre for Latin American Monetary Studies and its Central Bankers' Networks Kenneth G. Coates Richard Webb 221

Conclusion: Networks of Influence? Leonardo Martinez-Diaz Ngaire Woods 235

Index 259