ABSTRACT
The events of 1989 mark a juncture in European history with lasting repercussions on all spheres of international politics, including the role of international organizations and, in particular, of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. By way of analyzing the decision-making process regarding the provision of external assistance to transition in Eastern Europe,1 this chapter argues that the IFIs were able to assume an unprecedented autonomy during the first half of the 1990s.2 Given the inability of Western donors to implement a coherent assistance regime and the limited capacity of recipient administrations to manage foreign support, the IFIs readily filled the ‘transitional void’, by assuming a role similar to the one which they carry out within a Third World context.
