North and South in the World Political Economy

In the second half of the twentieth century, a good proportion of international relations was colored significantly by the East-West cleavage. Yet there is a good chance that the first half of the twenty-first century will be equally shaped by a North-South cleavage, where despite increased development and globalization, the political, social and economic distances between the North and South are becoming ever greater. This path-breaking volume is the first dedicated to the problems of the North-South divide. The first two groups of essays focus on problems that especially afflict the global South in trade and development and that help maintain the North-South gap (such as poverty, disease, energy, financial crises, structural adjustment and human rights). The third cluster isolates particular points of conflict between North and South (such as political Islam, terrorism, weak states and nuclear weapon proliferation). A final group of articles then introduces a variety of factors that seek to ameliorate the North-South gap. North and South in the World Political Economy will be essential reading for scholars and advanced students of international relations, international political economy and development studies.

William R. Thompson is Rogers Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. His recent books include Globalization and Global History (with Barry Gills, 2006); Strategic Rivalry: Space, Position, and Conflict Escalation in World Poltiics (with Michael Colaresi and Karen Rasler, 2007); and Globalization as Evolutionary Process (with George Modelski and Tessaleno Devezas, 2007) He was the President of the International Studies Association in 2005-2006.

Rafael Reuveny is Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author of numerous academic articles, coauthor of Growth, Trade and Systemic Leadership, (2004) with William R. Thompson; coeditor of Trade and Environment, (2005) with John W. Maxwell; and coeditor of Coping with Contemporary Terrorism, forthcoming in 2008. He was the Program Chair of the yearly meeting of the International Studies Association, 2006.