ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on international economic variables and a changing international political economy. It explains the vulnerabilities created by interdependence as well as the leverages some states have through interdependence. The book explores the conditions for the maintenance of an open world economy in the context of the profound shifts entailed by new realities in Europe and the role of developing countries and by the growth of Pacific Basin states. It argues that poor states have significant military capabilities. The book describes the rise of Japanese economic power. It also argues that cultural factors complicate Japan's emergence as a dominant world power. The book examines the shifts in US policy inside the fund as the United States responded to the debt crisis and required more resources from Japan but resisted a redistribution of power through voting shares in the International Monetary Fund.
