Coffee is traded in one of the few international markets ever subject to effective political regulation. This book explores the origins, operations and collapse of the International Coffee Organization, an international "government of coffee" that was formed in the 1960s. In doing so, it addresses key issues in international political economy and comparative politics, and analyzes the creation of political institutions and their impact on markets. Drawing upon field work in East Africa, Colombia and Brazil, the text explores the domestic sources of international politics within a theoretical framework that blends game theoretic and more established approaches to the study of politics.