International economic orders are characterised by typical patterns of flows of goods and services, financial capital, people and knowledge. Other characteristics include the intensity of relationships between economies and the institutional structure of these relationships.

Chapter 13 discusses developments in the international order and their significance for developing countries, since 1945. In addition to the economic aspects of the post-war international economic order, the chapter deals extensively with political and institutional aspects of the international order such as the international balance of power, the role of international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the IMF and important international conventions and treaties. The chapter closes with the recent debates concerning the advantages and dangers of globalisation.