Globalisation’s dilemma: Economic blocs or global economic apartheid?

The risk of a new Great Depression has recently increased. Its underlying causes are rooted in the prevailing economic System and its related global network. Both the current case of globalisation and an earlier phase at the tum of the present Century are characterised by fundamentally flawed banking Systems: a series of financial panics in South America and Central Europe ended the earlier, those in Asia and Russia are undermining the current phase. An analysis of the process which has brought the world economy to this crossroads is essential for avoiding a new disaster. The struggle to control and steer the forces unleashed by globalisation is a key priority for the next Century to come. The alternative to an unsustainable global apartheid is the formation of diverse and discrete economic groupings. © 1999 European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes.