A distinctly different new international division of labour has recently emerged from the old Bretton Woods global political economy. The shift away from eurocentricity at the levels of diplomacy, security, production and communication has been dramatic. The decade following the 1970s has witnessed incremental decline and decay in most of the developing countries. But in a few Third World countries the post-Bretton Woods era has facilitated the growth of dynamic and competitive industrial structures - the newly industrializing countries (NICs). The resulting hierachization of the Third World has opened up new possibilities for South-South relations, thus challenging the established North-South bias of the international economy. However, the definition, conceptualization and explanation of this new frontier represented by the NICs and their South-South ambitions remains controversial. This volume addresses this important and intense debate.