The goal of this course is to provide an holistic view of the issues facing sovereigns across the world at different times and under different circumstances. It intends to supply the analytical tools needed to solve applied problems facing governments and state sector institutions. The course will address the following questions: Why do some countries experience sovereign debt crisis? How do various political and economic conditions influence how a country deals with a sovereign crisis? How to design macro prudential regulation to minimize the risks of a financial crisis? How can the sovereign debt situation influence the health of the banking sector? How have sovereigns dealt with financial crisis and its consequences? How should governments monitor state owned enterprises? All these issues will be illustrated with recourse to case studies linked to real situations.