Concluding Observations

Abstract

World trade has grown rapidly during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Increasing trade is a consequence of a paradigm shift in economic policies of many countries. Growth in international trade and flow of foreign capital have had infused efficiency in some economies and may have also adversely affected others. Both developed and developing countries are affected by integrating market economy, but in varying degrees. International trade is an important area of geographical enquiry. However, geographers in general, and more so in India, have not addressed this theme for many years. By and large, research by geographers is confined to case studies but fail to generalize. An attempt is made through this book to capture the changing dynamics of global trade from the geographical perspective. This approach broadly entails to study the changing nature, pattern and structure of the trade network embedded in space and time. In this background, the study has thrown light on how countries responded differently to the globalization process via trade flows. This chapter not merely summarizes what has already been brought out in the preceding chapters but also reflects on the analytical results in an integrated manner.