Andre Mommen – författare

Liberalization in the Developing World compares the success of liberalization strategies in Asia, Africa and Latin America over the past decade. Three models emerge, corresponding to the three continents covered, which reflect the degree of state intervention in the economy and the success of the liberalization policies adopted. The conclusions drawn demonstrate that economic and political liberalization do not have to go hand in hand. On the contrary, the case studies presented in this volume show that the role of the state can be crucial in mobilizing both the human and capital investment needed to be able to compete in international economy.

Liberalization in the Developing World compares the success of liberalization strategies in Asia, Africa and Latin America over the past decade. Three models emerge, corresponding to the three continents covered, which reflect the degree of state intervention in the economy and the success of the liberalization policies adopted. The conclusions drawn demonstrate that economic and political liberalization do not have to go hand in hand. On the contrary, the case studies presented in this volume show that the role of the state can be crucial in mobilizing both the human and capital investment needed to be able to compete in international economy.

The book reveals the interconnection between social, cultural and political protest movements and social and economic changes in a post-communist country like Russia still dominated by bureaucratic rulers and "oligarchs" controlling all basic industries and mining activities. Those interests are also dominating Russia’s foreign policy and explain why Russia did not succeed in becoming an integral part of Europe. The latter is, at least, wished by many Russian citizens.

The book reveals the interconnection between social, cultural and political protest movements and social and economic changes in a post-communist country like Russia still dominated by bureaucratic rulers and "oligarchs" controlling all basic industries and mining activities. Those interests are also dominating Russia’s foreign policy and explain why Russia did not succeed in becoming an integral part of Europe. The latter is, at least, wished by many Russian citizens.

This book analyses the contribution of Eugen (Jenő) Varga (1879-1964) on Marxist-Leninist economic theory as well as the influence he exercised on Stalin’s foreign policy and through the Comintern on the international communist movement. During the Hungarian Councils’ Republic of 1919 Varga was one of those chiefly responsible for transforming the economy into one big industrial and agrarian firm under state authority. After the fall of the revolutionary regime that year, Varga joined the Hungarian Communist Party, soon after which, he would become one of the Comintern’s leading economists, predicting the inevitable crisis of the capitalist system.

Varga became the Soviet Union’s official propagandist. As an economic specialist he would advise the Soviet government on German reparation payments and, unlike Stalin, believed that the capitalist state would be able to plan post-war economic recovery, which contradicted Stalin’s foreign policy strategy and led to his disgrace. Thus by the beginning of the Cold War in 1947, Varga was discredited, but allowed to keep a minor academic position. After Stalin’s death in 1953 he reappeared as a well-respected economist whose political influence had nonetheless waned.

In this study Mommen reveals how Stalin’s view on international capitalism and inter-imperialist rivalries was profoundly influenced by debates in the Comintern and by Varga’s concept of the general crisis of capitalism. Though Stalin appreciated Varga’s cleverness, he never trusted him when making his strategic foreign policy decisions. This was clearly demonstrated in August 1939 with Stalin’s pact with Hitler, and in 1947, with his refusal to participate in Marshall’s European Recovery Plan.

This book should be of interest to a wide variety of students and researchers, including those concentrating on the history of economic thought, Soviet studies, international relations, and European and Cold War history.

Originally published in 1998. This collection of outstanding essays explores the importance of regionalization and globalization to the world economy. International contributions explore the process of regionalization in the Pacific Area, The Americas, Africa and Europe, and question whether the world economy is characterized by increasing regionalization, rather than globalization. The book is an excellent contribution to debate on development economics. It investigates how the processes of globalization and regionalization, driven by liberalization of trade and capital markets, weaken nationally established monopolies and protected industries and it looks at the challenge to Third World nations and the countries of the former socialist bloc.