ABSTRACT
The end of the bi-polar world consequent on the fall of the Soviet bloc led to the hegemony of Anglo-American capitalism on the one hand and a move to economic and political regionalism (such as the European Union) on the other. Contemporary political developments are increasingly conditioned by the geopolitical framework in which nation states are embedded. After the fall of state socialism, the post-socialist countries entered the world economy, though in different ways. As we noted earlier, an aspiration of the radical reformers was a move to the world economy, which it was believed would enhance the economic development of the post-socialist economies. In this chapter, we examine the form, and the extent to which the post-socialist societies are integrated into the world economic system. Finally, the effects of the world economic crisis that began in 2008 are studied.
