Global Politics

This innovative new text is derived from a highly successful Open University course of the same title. It takes as a dominant theme the contested issue of globalization (the apparent intensification of global patterns of inter-dependence) and its implications for the autonomy of the modern nation-state.

Following a conceptual introduction, which critically examines the theoretical debates framing the study of world politics, the work is structured around four key processes of globalization which the authors identify as being the central determinants of contemporary global politics. These key processes are: the global impact of great power relations; the globalizing tendencies of technological innovation; the existence of a global economy; and the globalizing force of modernity.

Reflecting this structure the text is organized into four discrete sections. Each section explores, both theoretically and empirically, one of the four processes of globalization. Throughout, particular attention is paid both to a critical evaluation of these globalizing processes as well as to their consequences for the sovereignty and autonomy of the modern nation-state. Moreover, the authors combine a lucid treatment of theoretical debates with topical case-study material to produce a text which is extremely accessible to undergraduate students studying international relations and politics and to those readers with little prior knowledge of world affairs.

Anthony G. McGrew andPaul G. Lewis are Senior Lecturers in Goverment at the Open University.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

List of Contributors.

1. Conceptualizing Global Politics: Anthony G. McGrew.

Part I: Superpower Rivalry and Global Political Competition.

2. Superpower Rivalry and the End of the 'Cold War': Paul G. Lewis.

3. The Superpowers and Regional Conflict: David Potter.

4. Superpower Rivalry and US Hegemony in Central America: Anthony G. McGrew.

Part II: Technology and Global Integration.

5. Military Technology and the Dynamics of Global Militarization: Anthony G. McGrew.

6. Regimes and the Global Commons: John Vogler.

7. Global Technologies and Political Change in Eastern Europe: Nigel Swain.

Part III: A Global Economy?.

8. The International Economic Order between the Wars: Richard Bessel.

9. The Nature and Government of the Global Economy: Jeremy Mitchell.

10. Economic Autonomy and the Advanced Industrial State: Grahame Thompson.

11. The Autonomy of `Third World' states within the Global Economy: David Potter.

12. Conceptualizing the Global Economy: Roger Tooze.

Part IV: Modernity, Globalization and the Nation-State.

13. Modernization, Globalization and the Nation-State: Michael Smith.

14. Modernity and Universal Human Rights: John Vincent.

15. Islam as a Global Political Force: Brian Beeley.

16. Global Politics in a Transitional Era: Anthony G. McGrew.

Index.