Despite the importance of DSAs, debtor countries have limited capabilities for conducting them. In our dialogues around the world with policymakers, government officials, and the civil society organizations in debt-distressed countries, we have found little awareness about either their importance or the multiple subtleties involved in their implementation. Countries’ debt management offices and think tanks, especially in countries that are prone to debt crises(where, unfortunately, independent think tanks do not abound) would do well to acquire greater capabilities for conducting their own DSA. We hope this paper makes that endeavour easier for institutions and scholars, especially in countries already in or likely to be in crisis and need debt restructuring. We would also encourage countries undertaking new loans, especially abroad, to undertake a DSA: the question that needs to be asked is“Is this new debt likely to push the country into a situation of lack of debt sustainability?” We suspect many countries facing a debt crisis today might not be in such a situation had they done a well-founded DSA at the time of the borrowing. At the very least, this paper should provide tools for questioning creditors who claim, on the basis of their own judgements and interests, that the country has greater capacity for debt repayment than in fact it has. Series: Debt Sustainability Assessments& Their Role in the International Financial Architecture 14