The dynamics of the International Monetary Fund are examined here in terms of how the system coped in the 1980s with the crises resulting from events in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, the three most heavily indebted developing countries in the world. Ernest J. Oliveri offers three case studies that demonstrate levels of cooperation and defection in the world of international finance. The Mexican case offers the richest example of cooperation by a Latin American borrower. At the other extreme is Brazil, which adamantly refused to recognize the legitimacy of the IMF as a participant in its...