Research Issues on International Economic Relations

Abstract

Until 1977 there was a significant gap between politics and economics on the in- temational arena. After that, the gap has been reduced significantly by two reasons:

globalization and multidisciplinary research. A new geography of trade is emerging and reshaping the global economic landscape, and the South is gradually moving from the periphery of global trade to the centre. This new geography is changing the academic approach for traditional international problems. The politics science has move gradually to get involved with economic variables and the economics has just taken political variables in the intemational analysis. It seems unthinkable to separate politics and economics from the intemational analysis nowadays. The economists have learned to use a more intemational relation

language, as the political scientists have to deal with economic variables alike. Prob- ably there is sorne academic absence in the relationship derived from sorne herme- neutic differences but this is another story that this book does not intend to cover up.

Foreign investrnent, trade, foreign aid, free trade agreements and financia! crisis

are just sorne of the issues analysed rigorously by the economist in the past. How- ever something was missing as the political analysis was not deeply included on the

common explanations about sorne relevant problems in intemational economics. On the other hand the politicians were not involved with the economic problems behind the politics facts. In both cases the disciplinary distance is has been reduced, but not enough. There still exist sorne differences coming from the theoretical approach: optimizing scare resources is still the basic premise in economics, and allocation and transfer of power in decision making is the matter of political scientists.