The period between late 1973 and 1975 was not the germinating stage of the new international economic order advocated by the G-77, but rather the high-water mark of what proved to be a brief and ultimately ineffectual period of reform. While in retrospect it may appear obvious (and to some, inevitable) that this challenge to the existing order would prove unsuccessful, the NIEO's fate seemed far less certain at the time. In fact, when the Seventh Special Session of the General Assembly was held in September 1975, some delegates and analysts judged the NIEO's prospects for success as moderately bright. The tone of the G-77 at the Session was less confrontational than it had been a year prior, as suggested by the Group's decision to omit from the position paper it prepared for the meeting a few of the more controversial items on the NIEO agenda, including permanent sovereignty over natural resources, producers' associations, and control over multinational corporations.

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 1746