ABSTRACT
China, India, and the Soviet Union—with 1.1 billion, 800 million, and 280 million people respectively—are by far the three most populous underdeveloped countries on earth. 1 The next nations in line trail distantly behind (the island chain of Indonesia with 170 million, and Brazil with 140 million). Notwithstanding the large differences in history and culture that separate the three “Giants,” the size of their populations and the vastness of their lands have stimulated surprisingly similar responses to the changing international environment of the twentieth century. Today, the Giants share a common predicament: How can very large nations with ambitious foreign policies but with underdeveloped, technology-poor economies make headway in a relentlessly demanding, rapidly changing, and ever more intrusive global economy?
