The process of change in international relations-characterized by the relative declining power of leading capitalist countries, by the increasing significance of socialist countries, and by the growing efforts in the direction of cooperation between Third World countries-may have Profound implications for the emergence of new power constellations. But, for all the change, the overall international structure of economic relations (in terms of the orientation of trade and investment flows and the distribution of economic potential) has remained, by and large, intact, with the economic hegemony of the United States. within the West as well as internationally, still indisputable. Nevertheless, the change has posed a choice between two strategies of economic development, viz. interdependence and self-reliance, the one basically aimed at maintaining the structure of dominance-dependency relationship and the other at breaking Out of it. The author analyzes both ih their various aspects and shows which is best calculated to meet the basic human needs of all.*The paper is a completely revised and extended version of an article originally published in Finnish in Politikka (a quarterly journal ofthe Finnish Political Science Association).