International Politics since World War II: A Short History by Charles L. Robertson

International Politics since World War II: A Short History

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	better and better, as world food production increased beyond anyone's pre- dictions. From 1950 to 1980, Third World countries, taken as a whole, grew faster than the industrialized countries -- faster, in fact, than the industrial- ized countries had ever grown in the past -- and faster than almost anyone had predicted they would. Two countertrends eroded the benefits: popula- tion expansion, unfortunately, kept Third World per capita growth only roughly equal to that of the developed countries, which meant that the income gap widened between rich and poor. Moreover, growth was highly uneven: large areas of the world -- mainly in Africa south of the Sahara and in south Asia -- remained mired in poverty, hunger, and conflict, just as other Third World states began to rival the developed countries in all the standard indicators of development. In some areas, notably in Africa, al- ready low incomes shrank further.
9.	Contentious worldwide environmental issues never before encoun- tered have arisen -- in the fields of pollution, resource availability or deple- tion, and climatic change -- and these issues appear to call for global action at a time when global institutions still remain weak. Innumerable organiza- tions and conferences have begun, but only begun, to cope with them at national, regional, and global levels.
10.	International institutions, both global and regional, have grown in number, in response to many of these developments, but most have achieved neither the power nor the influence commensurate with the tasks assigned to them. At a time when many people have looked to these institutions as necessary concomitants to growing international issues and problems, people have also turned inward to seek identity in smaller communities.

The events reviewed in the balance of this book have contributed to, or
unfolded against the background of, these trends. To many analysts they
add up to a progressive undermining of the state system as it existed earlier
in this century, and many have sought new paradigms to explain what is
happening and to either replace or to supplement the older "realist" view of
the global system. The brief account of global politics of the last fifty years
in this book should provide the student with at least some basic information
with which he or she can arrive at useful conclusions.

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Publication Information: Book Title: International Politics since World War II: A Short History. Contributors: Charles L. Robertson - author. Publisher: M.E. Sharpe. Place of Publication: Armonk, NY. Publication Year: 1997. Page Number: 6.