This course will examine the problems poor countries face in today's interdependent world and the strategies proposed to deal with them, beginning with an analysis of the ways in which the global trading system and the international financial system operate. It will then review the factors affecting the flow of investment capital to developing countries, either as official development assistance or as private investment, with particular attention to the roles of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, transnational corporations and governments of both developed and developing countries. Next, it will consider the requirements for sustainable development and the role of non-governmental organizations as well as inter-governmental organizations and national governments, particularly in matters affecting the environment and human rights. The course will conclude with proposals for reform, based on a comparison of the experiences of selected developing countries and of different approaches to governance of the international trading and financial systems.
Continuing Education Units (CEU) :