This text introduces the histories and contemporary development problems of the non-core countries of the world economy. Dramatic shifts in economic policy and the nature of political institutions have occurred in these countries during the 1990s, much more substantial than those experienced within advanced economies. Here, the authors assess the impact of these shifts at different scales of analysis, from the supranational to the local. Drawing on the experience of Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Latin America and East Asia in particular, the book explores contradictions within the discourse on these so-called "emerging regions" and looks forward to the future and the type of world that might develop away from the core advanced economies.