While rich countries successfully negotiated many privileges for their own
industries, much of the Global South was left with no other option but to play
by the West’s rules. The Americans spoke of free trade and open markets while
maintaining a protectionist agenda over what they perceived to be key
industries. Globalization was branded as a success story for freedom and
democracy while, in essence, it was a cheap reproduction of the 18th-century
‘laissez-faire’ France’s economic doctrine.
