International Trade and Emerging Economies The rise of globalization and international trade has enabled emerging economies to become more integrated into the global trade mechanism. Countries such as India, China, and nations in Eastern Europe have benefited from the expansion of trade, importing and exporting goods to other countries that were never before accessible to the extent that they are today. The result has been a boost to the economies of these emerging nations. Indeed, all eyes are on India, which is “among the largest of the emerging markets” (Trichet, 2007, para. 3), and China (which is seeking to become a more dominant player in international affairs through investment, construction, integration and partnership). This paper will discuss the impact on international trade of emerging economies like those in Eastern Europe, India and China.

Eastern Europe sits between Russia and the West: it has struggled for many years to define itself on its own terms, having been caught in the middle of two opposed states during the Cold War Era. Today, it is breaking out of that mold and asserting itself on the world stage in international trade.  With this assertion has come instability, however. Ukraine is mired in a civil war that has been brought about as a result of old Cold War tensions between the East and West. Crimea has been annexed by Russia. NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe is growing just as fast as sanctions out of Washington are leveled at...

In terms of international trade, this tension along with forms of economic warfare (which is what sanctions are) is designed to cut off the East from the West—and that places severe limitations on international trade. Russia wants to sell gas to Europe, but if Germany enters into trade with Russia, it will violate the latest round of sanctions leveled by the U.S.—which will in turn invite new sanctions and more economic disorder and instability. Eastern Europe is, among emerging markets, still in a rather vulnerable position primarily because it remains caught between two opposing world-views: on the right hand side is the multi-polar world vision expressed by Russia and China; on the left is the unipolar world vision expressed by the U.S. (Amin, 2017). The economic war is about controlling trade and Eastern Europe is experiencing the repercussions of this struggle, as Ukraine descends into warfare, the Caucuses continue to fester with terrorists, and the question of who will supply the energy of tomorrow becomes increasingly uncertain.
India’s emerging economy is far more remarkable because it, like China’s, is among the biggest in the world. All developed markets seek penetration into India’s economy and India is seeking to be a more dominant player in international trade. As Lamy (2012) has noted, India is among the top of the tier emerging states—nations that “now increasingly influence the pattern and scope of international…