The changing world order and the East Asian newly industrialized countries: Challenges and responses

This chapter examines how the changing international context affects the past and present development of the Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs). It reviews the emergence of the postwar world order based on geopolitical polarization of the world, American hegemony and multilateralism in the capitalist world economy. The chapter traces the linkages of East Asian NICs’ developmental process with the postwar world order. It discusses the changes in the world order which are impinging on the East Asian NICs are briefly delineated: the end of Cold War, the rise of protectionism and the decline of American monetary hegemony, and the changing regional division of labor in Asia. The chapter provides some of the principal responses of the East Asian NICs to these changes. It explains the subtle differences between the NICs in responding to changes in the world order. The miraculous economic growth of the NICs was thus built upon the almost unprecedented global expansion in output and trade. Copyright © 1994 Taylor & Francis.