Networks of Influence? Developing Countries in a Networked Global Order (2009), Oxford University Press

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

Authors: ed. Ngaire Woods and Leonardo Martinez-Diaz

Type: Book

Abstract

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.

Author Bios

Professor Ngaire Woods is the inaugural Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government and Professor of International Political Economy. Her research focuses on global economic governance, the challenges of globalization, global development, and the role of international institutions. She founded and is the Director of the Global Economic Governance Programme. She is co-founder (with Robert O. Keohane) of the Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Fellowship programme. She lead the creation of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University and, before her appointment as Dean, served as the School’s Academic Director.

For more information about Professor Woods, please see her people page

Leonardo Martinez-Diaz is deputy assistant secretary for the western hemisphere at the U.S. Treasury Department. Previously, he served as director of the office of policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he was responsible for development policy formulation and analysis. Prior to that, Assistant Secretary Martinez-Diaz was a fellow and deputy director of the global economy and development program at the Brookings Institution. He has also served as deputy director of Brookings’ Partnership for the Americas Commission, consultant for the International Monetary Fund, and director of the high-level commission on the modernization of World Bank Group Governance. Before becoming a fellow at Brookings, he was a research associate with the Global Economic Governance Program at Oxford University, where he focused on the politics of banking reform in developing countries and the role of the IMF in financial crisis-management. Assistant Secretary Martinez-Diaz, received a M.Phil degree and D.Phil from Magdalen College of Oxford University, where he specialized in International Political Economy and was a Marshall Scholar. He graduated with honors from Northwestern University with degrees in Economics and Political Science and was a Truman Scholar.