This book shows how regional cooperation and integration have increased massively in scale and scope in recent years, as developing countries seek new ways to shield themselves from economic turbulence and to kick-start their economies in the face of stagnant global demand.  The trend is partly a defense mechanism against the limitations of the international financial system, but also reflects a wider search for new and different growth paths more appropriate with developing countries increasing economic and political voice.  As a consequence, the landscape of financial and monetary mechanisms has changed dramatically, especially in the ten years since the economic crisis of 20072008. 

Diana Barrowclough is a Senior Economist in the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies.
Richard Kozul-Wright is Director of the Globalisation and Development Strategies Division in UNCTAD.

William N. Kringis the Assistant Director of the Global Development Policy Center, a university-wide center housed at the Frederick S. Pardee School for Global Studies.

Kevin P. Gallagher is a Professor of global development policy at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and the Director of the Global Development Policy Center (GDPC). 

Introduction. Chapter 1: South-South Regional Financial Arrangements in the 21st century: promise and potential.- Part I: Exchange and Payment Systems.- Chapter 2: A Critical Analysis of Transnational Payment Systems in Latin America.- Chapter 3: Monetary Policy and Emergence: What lessons can WAEMU learn?.- Chapter 4: The Euro Experience: Lessons for Africa.- Part II: Short-term Liquidity. Chapter 5: Regional Monetary Cooperation in the Developing World: Taking Stock.-Chapter 6: The Clearing Union Principle as the Basis for Regional Financial Arrangements in Developing Countries.- Chapter 7: Sovereign Wealth Funds and the South: New instruments for building resilience and reducing vulnerability?.- Chapter 8: Towards a Regional Financial Architecture: The East Asian Experience with a Focus on Defense.- Chapter 9: Alternatives to the International Monetary Fund in Asia and Latin America: Lessons for Regional Financial Arrangements.- Chapter 10: Conclusion.