ABSTRACT
Discussions on globalization now routinely focus on the economic impact of developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, and Latin America. Only 25 years ago many of these nations were largely closed societies, with modest financial and economic ties to wealthier advanced countries. Today the growing power of “emerging markets” is reordering the geopolitical landscape. On a purchase-power-parity basis, these countries now constitute roughly one half of the world's economic activity, form three quarters of the world's land-mass, and control two thirds of all commodities. Financial markets, too, see growing integration: Asia alone represents one third of world stock market capitalization, more than double that of just 15 years ago. Given their current trajectories, most economists predict that China and India alone will account for half of global output by the middle of this century, almost a complete return to their leading positions prior to the Industrial Revolution. How is higher education shaping and being shaped by these massive tectonic shifts?
