The rising powers as drivers of development

The global economy is based on a wide array of networks where money, people, food, raw materials and consumer goods contantly flow from one region to another. Very few countries, whether they are rich or poor, can remain isolated from these global linkages, which are also impacted on by the exercise of power, which can result in positive-sum or zero-sum outcomes for the actors involved. Who controls and can affect these flows determines economic and political power in the international system. After World War II the drivers of economic and political change resided mainly in the developed economies of North America and Europe, with Soviet Russia and Japan emerging towards the latter half of the century. These actors influenced how global trade and financial markets worked, and with this came a great influence on international development. ... ... But it has also been argued that all states have unique development trajectories even as they are ineveitably part of an interconnected and interdependent world. So, this chapter focuses in on the specifics of Brazil, China and India's economic growth. In order to do this the chapter develops two key themes: First, although the path to economic growth may be specific to a country's endowments and circumstances, there is a general model that is applicable to all countries. Second, when these countries become majur actors in the global economy, their impact on other developing regions is of a different nature to the growth that hsas been driven by the advanced economies. ..