The Transformation of the World Economy
Strange, Susan. “The Transformation of the World Economy.” In Mapping the Unknown: Towards a New World Order (Yearbook of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs 1992-1993), edited by Lidija Babic, Bo Huldt, 43-49. London: Hurst and Co., 1993.
In this short article Strange reviews many of the same arguments that have been featured above. However, here she argues that the transformation of the world economy is not so much the product of state/firm interactions, rather it is firms that are playing (and will continue to play) the more important role in structural change. This finally represents a complete reversal of the position of ‘Follow-up commentary On Money and World Politics’ (1984). Strange also argues that the supposed problems of the emergence of trading blocs (the three main blocs being centred on the US, Japan and Europe - the triad) are not crucial to the stability of the global economy, as she had implicitly argued in her discussions of protectionism. The problems and structural transformation of the global economy are rooted in the financial structure, and it is here that the US needs to assert its leadership for the future good of the international system.
Keywords: Corporations; Global Governance; Hegemony; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Transnational Corporations; Global System