ABSTRACT
In our epoch of quantum leaps in human affairs, the North-South divide remains one of the enduring features of international economic relations. The major paradox of an integrated world economy is the phenomenon of hemispheric polarization, as zones of affluence are disengaging from a nascent global ghetto of economic and social deprivation. American industry secretary, Robert Reichhimself a keen student of political economy-observes that the wealthy regions are uncoupling from the rest of the world, “while much of what remains behind is sinking precipitously into hopeless poverty”.1 More than two decades ago the French political thin-ker, Maurice Duverger, reminded us: “Two worlds now confront each other; one rich, the other poor….While the former sees on the horizon the society of abundance, the latter remains close to the Middle Ages, with its famines, epidemics and human misery.”2
