Global adjustment [Ressource électronique] : implications for peripheral states

This article analyzes the global strategy of Structural Adjustment Programmes and its implications for peripheral states, using examples drawn from a case study of Mauritania. After a decade of systematic adjustment, the Mauritanian state is being transformed from a national to a multilateral state, that is a denationalized state overwhelmed by the process of globalization and haunted by the possibility of national disintegration. It is losing control over its money and credit system. Its sovereignty over law making and budget allocation is eroding. Even its monopoly over internal politics and the use of violence are sometimes challenged. Its capacity to conceive, design, fund, implement, monitor and evaluate original development programs has almost vanished.