Renowned political economist Samir Amin, engaged in a unique lifelong effort both to narrate and affect the human condition on a global scale, brings his analysis up to the present--the world of 2013. The key events of our times--financial crisis, the emerging nations, globalization,...

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. The Questions, and the Standards a Satisfactory Answer Must Meet -- 2. The Logic -- 3. The Implications -- 4. The Developed Democracies Since World War II -- 5. Jurisdictional Integration and Foreign Trade -- 6. Inequality, Discrimination, and Development -- 7....

This research argues that variations in the interplay between cultural assimilation and cultural diffusion have played a significant role in giving rise to differential patterns of economic development across the globe. Societies that were geographically less vulnerable to cultural diffusion,...