Between East And South

During the Cold War, alternative globalization projects were underway: socialist Eastern Europe and left-leaning countries in the Third World maintained close economic relations. The two worlds traded and exchanged know-how and technology. This book examines the specific spaces of interaction of these exchanges and discusses the consequences for those projects of globalization undertaken in both world regions.

At the end of 1991, the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei hosted the Integration Symposium of the Confederation of European Associations of Economists on "Europe between East and South". This volume brings together the selected and edited proceedings of the conference. The focus of the book is the transformation of the formerly planned economies in Eastern and Central Europe from an international perspective. The opening up of the Eastern bloc adds a new and extremely challenging dimension to the relationship between the more and the less developed economies. Almost all developing countries implemented liberalisation policies throughout the Eighties, thereby dramatically increasing the market orientation of their economies. The "recipes" used in the South are also being applied virtually unmodified, in Eastern Europe. The symposium was one of the first forays comparing the two sets of experiences, showing that the lessons from the South are of great value for Eastern European reforms. Reforms in Eastern European countries equally affect economic flows between Europe and developing countries, and create new challenges for European countries themselves. Eastern Europe is an enclave of cheap and relatively skilled labour, thus a dramatic competitive threat for other developing countries and poorer EC regions. Furthermore, the strategic relevance of this area for the western world is likely to cause a diversion of public resources previously earmarked for the development of southern economies. All these issues could have tremendous consequences for the environment.

The collapse of communism in Central, East and South-East Europe (CESEE) led to great hopes for the region and for Europe. A quarter of a century on, the picture is mixed: in many CESEE countries, the transformation process is incomplete, and the economic catch-up has taken longer than anticipated. The current situation has highlighted the need for a better understanding of the long-term political and economic implications of the Central, East and South-East European historical experience. This thematically organised text offers a clear and comprehensive guide to the economic history of CESEE from 1800 to the present day. Bringing together authors from both East and West, the book also draws on the cutting-edge research of a new generation of scholars from the CESEE region. Presenting a thoroughly modern overview of the history of the region, the text will be invaluable to students of economic history and CESEE area studies.

This annually updated volume of the World Today Series is designed to place in context the passionate controversies and emotional attachments of the two billion people who live, study, work, and die in the Middle East and South Asia. Despite room for optimism in some areas, many parts of the Middle East and South Asia continue to face extraordinary challenges and difficult outlooks. Much of this has to do with conflict across the region, which extends well beyond atrocities perpetrated by the Islamic State and the Assad regime in Syria.This volume depicts a region where hundreds of millions seek dignity as humans and respect from their governments. This volume helps the general reader understand recent and past developments from these countries.

This volume is designed to place in context the passionate controversies and emotional attachments of the two billion people who live, study, work, love, and die in the Middle East and South Asia. Understanding these regions means more than annually-updated details of the governments, politics, cultures, and economies of the twenty-four nations and assorted territories. Special chapters address significant issues of continuing international importance, including access to water, the role of oil, and the 2011 Arab spring. Both regions, after all, contain types of people misunderstood and often intensely disliked by others. Where religion intrudes on politics—the Afghan Taliban oppose educating girls, Hindu fanatics rampage in India, Iranian militiamen shoot demonstrators, Islamic extremists impose sharia, and Jewish Ultra-Orthodox send women to the back of the bus—readers bombarded with superficial news bites and slanted reporting might never sense the other accomplishments of these same societies. Islamic charities and societies bring relief to the impoverished, Israel’s scholars win Nobel prizes, and most Indians cherish long-standing religious toleration. The author of this volume attempts to let the reader draw conclusions from the evidence.

The critical importance of past for the present--of music histories in local and global forms--asserts itself. The history of world music, as each chapter makes clear, is one of critical moments and paradigm shifts.