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Based on recent IPE contributions on three key themes in international politics (the relation between trade-technology & interstate conflicts, the link between multinationalization in production & world stability, & the political economy of democracy promotion in post-conflict countries), this essay calls the attention on the potential that IPE studies have for the analysis of complex processes (political & economic, with domestic, international & trans-national reach) across long time-spans. Empirical research on these topics has provided new ground to test & refine hypotheses from the three IPE orthodox Schools (Realism-Mercantilism, Liberalism & Marxism), pointing to the advantages of multivariate setups that treat both political & economic determinants of international outcomes as endogenous. Studies on the trade-war links have opened the way to analyses of how growth-inducing mechanisms in war economies may combine with the lasting effects of war-borne protectionist coalitions in producing differential outcomes, according to countries' resource endowments & level of development. Hypotheses on the peace-inducing features of multinationalized production appear in need of revision, especially when applied to the context of North-South relations, in which traditional dynamics identified in the FDI literature do not seem to obtain. Last, scholars interested in the political economy of post-war reconstruction could fruitfully borrow from the comparative literature on transitions, the economic contributions on development & the IR research on conflict, to provide new theoretical tools for the analysis of democracy promotion in post-conflict states. References. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of the paper is to explain the process of policy change that occurred within the IMF during the 1990s in the area of capital account liberalization. Specifically, the paper compares the policies pursued in the aftermath of the Mexican crisis (1994-95) with the policies pursued after the Asian crisis (1997-98) supporting a constructivist political economy explanation of policy change. Showing the influence of economic ideas on the policies pursued by the IMF, the argument is that the governance of the international financial regime has shifted from a system of centralized cooperation to a system decentralized cooperation. Whereas the former revolved around the role of an intergovernmental organization such as the IMF, the latter builds upon the cooperation of states & non-state actors within the framework of a public-private partnership. Adapted from the source document.