What is the New International Economic Order?

Publisher:  GATT-Fly, Toronto, Canada
Year Published:  1975   First Published:  1975
Pages:  15pp   Price:  $.25  
Resource Type:  Article/Report/Letter
Cx Number:  CX33

Overview and critique of the New International Economic Order.

Abstract:  This 15-page paper gives a clear and comprehensive overview of the so-called new international economic order and looks into some economic and social factors inherent in the present world system. It asks the question "What are the people of the Third World saying by their actions and their proposals for a new order?" The pamphlet gives information on Third World struggles and strategies used recently to bring about changes in the present system. The paper sets the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order (adopted by the Sixth Special United Nations General Assembly) in the context of a dynamic process of change which has influenced a whole series of international meetings over the recent years and will continue to do so.

The text of the paper is complemented by sketches and statistics making for easy reading. The present economic order, the pamphlet states, has been maintained for the benefit of large corporations located in the industrialized countries at the expense of the Third World. The most fundamental problem facing the world today is how to change this situation. In the context of this struggle for control over the world's natural resources, the paper gives some data and comments on the action taken by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The effects of OPEC action are also seen as an illustration of how control over major national resources can enable a nation (Algeria) to develop itself. The paper sees another important factor the internal organization of a society to ensure that its people, not just a national elite participate in the decisions that affect their lives. The paper then outlines the key issues in the creation of a new international economic order, as well as limitations to this new order. The final chapters deal with Canada's position and its present policy as regards to the new international economic order.