Traditionally trade has flowed between Northern countries to the Southern ones, meaning the developed and developing words. Natural resources were shipped into the industrialized West, which in return exported factory made goods. After WWII this becomes a little more complex as the Asian upstarts become to receive the outsourcing of western industries. There was little incentive to reach customers in the developing countries, so the US and Europe dominated the world´s trade and capital, and everyone depended on them for growth and jobs.
This changes, once again, when China jumped in the globalization during the 80s. India and other emerging countries became export destinations in their own right, and connections continue to draw in more and more parts of the emerging words. Trade between the developing countries of Asia and Latin America, grew over the first decade of the 21st century to USD 268 billion. Trade between India and Africa went from a mere USD 1 billion in 2001 to USD 50 billion in 2010. The consequences of this shift go well beyond the mere movement of goods and services.
The more important trade and investment within the emerging countries become, the less important the West becomes to the global economy
Will the importance of US and Europe diminish economically and politically? Which will be the consequences? A replacement of the US dollar as the world´s number one reserve currency?