Robertson D. International Economics and Confusing Politics

David Robertson, 2006, 225 p., ISBN–10: 1 84376 503 9, Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
"This volume demonstrates that ‘globalization’ is still a distant dream. The present levels of economic interdependence have evolved over the 60 years since the Bretton Woods meetings established the post-1945 economic regime. It was not a sudden development. Rather it was a return to the gradually rising living standards experienced since the Industrial Revolution began in the mid-eighteenth century, which had been interrupted in the first half of the twentieth century. Even the post-1945 recovery has not been without its prob-lems.
The balance of world affairs is changing, too. Old alliances are fracturing and new players are increasing their influence. The North Atlantic alliance is weakening as Europe, represented by the 25-nation EU, has entered into xii International economics and confusing politics commercial rivalry with the US and is pursuing its social and environmental policies aggressively. The centralization of Europe’s political and economic decisions in Brussels has increased Europeans’ sympathy for ‘international law’. Divergences in economic and social policies also increase differences.
across the North Atlantic. The multi-polarity of the world economy is increas-ing as industrialization spreads in East Asia, and more changes lie ahead.".List of acronyms vii.
Preface xi.
1. International political economy.
2. Internationalism: in the beginning.
3. Trade relations.
4. Trade and development.
5. The WTO and the Doha Round.
6. The regional trade alternative.
7. Promoting economic development.
8. Globalization and civil society.
9. A system under siege.
10. Economics and international politics.