Tangled Governance

International Regime Complexity, the Troika, and the Euro Crisis

C. Randall Henning

Provides a comprehensive account of country programmes in the euro crisis
Presents country cases in the context of analytical frameworks
Provides a detailed overview of key questions and arguments

Tangled Governance

International Regime Complexity, the Troika, and the Euro Crisis

C. Randall Henning

Description

Tangled Governance addresses the institutions that were deployed to fight the euro crisis, re-establish financial stability, and prevent contagion beyond Europe. The author addresses why European leaders chose to include the IMF and provides a detailed account of the decisions of the institutions that make up the 'Troika' (the European Commission, ECB, and IMF). He explains the institutions' negotiating strategies, the outcomes of their interaction, and the effectiveness of their cooperation. The book also explores the strategies of the member states, including Germany and the United States, with respect to the institutions and the advantages they sought in directing them to work together.

The book locates the analysis within the framework of regime complexity, clusters of overlapping and intersecting regional and multilateral institutions. It tests conjectures spawned by that literature against the seven cases of financial rescues of euro area countries that were stricken by crisis during 2010-2015. Tangled Governance concludes that regime complexity is the consequence of a strategy by key states to control 'agency drift'. States mediate conflicts among institutions, through informal as well as formal mechanisms, and thereby limit fragmentation of the regime complex and underpin substantive efficacy. In so doing, the book answers several key puzzles, including why (a) Germany and other Northern European countries supported IMF inclusion despite substantive positions opposed to their economic preferences, (b) crisis-fighting arrangements endured intense conflicts among the institutions, and (c) the United States and the IMF promoted further steps to 'complete' the monetary union.

Tangled Governance

International Regime Complexity, the Troika, and the Euro Crisis

C. Randall Henning

1. Introduction
2. Regime Complexity and Main Argument
3. Dramatis Institutiones
4. Euro Crisis in a Nutshell
5. Greece 2010
6. Troika, Ireland, and Portugal
7. Spain and Italy
8. United States and the IMF
9. New Facilities and Institutions
10. Greece 2012 and Cyprus 2013
11. Greece, the Crisis Continues
12. Lessons and Conclusions

Tangled Governance

International Regime Complexity, the Troika, and the Euro Crisis

C. Randall Henning

Author Information

C. Randall Henning, Professor of International Economic Relations, School of International Service, American University, Washington D.C.

C. Randall Henning is Professor of International Economic Relations in the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. He specializes in International Political Economy, Global Governance, and regional integration, especially with respect to Europe and East Asia. Europe's monetary union and the interaction among regional and multilateral institutions are topics of special focus. The author of numerous books and journal articles, he has written most recently on emerging-market perspectives on the Group of Twenty (G20) and international financial institutions, regional financial facilities, and the lessons for Europe from fiscal federalism in the United States.

Tangled Governance

International Regime Complexity, the Troika, and the Euro Crisis

C. Randall Henning

Reviews and Awards

"Given Tangled Governance's impressive empirical richness and its very convincing theoretical argument, the book is highly recommendable as a comprehensive account of the complex governance issues of the crisis period and the equally numerous as well as heterogeneous actors and institutions involved. The very well prepared data on the conditions of the country programmes together with its hint towards the important role of the United States of America and the IMF in the European governance regime offers valuable insights for both scholars searching for an inclusive account of the complex politics and governance mechanisms of the period in question, and those scholars interested in EU studies that want to learn more about the complex regime of European multilevel governance from a more international and global governance perspective. " -- Sebastian Heiderbrecht , JMCS

"Through detailed analysis of more than a half dozen programs undertaken since 2010 to rescue the GIIPS (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain) this book provides insightful analysis of the crucial roles played by northern European countries like Germany, as well as non-European countries- the United States in particular- in contributing to an increasingly complex set of new regional and international governance institutions." - EuropeNow Journal

"This is an innovative and interesting argument, which Henning supports with an excellent array of case studies. More important, Henning's argument adds to our understanding of international regimes in a way that resonates with what we know about domestic politics." - Erik Jones, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy