ABSTRACT
The private sector flourishes because states have given it room to develop, but it has grown so important in the international economic environment that today it is a major influence on state conduct. 1 Besides encouraging further privatizations, it is reshaping how states govern their sovereign territory more generally. They now depend on private actors not only to continue their divested functions but also for supplying everything from loans to technological expertise. States also benefit from the private sector’s globalization, as there are few geographical limits to what it provides. In short, the private sector has become vital for modern states to function; even as they exercise effective control over it through laws and regulations, they are drawn into adopting much of its behavior. 2
