We live today in an interconnected world in which ordinary people can became instant online celebrities to fans thousands of miles away, in which religious leaders can influence millions globally, in which humans are altering the climate and environment, and in which complex social forces intersect across continents. This is globalization. In the fifth edition of his bestselling Very Short Introduction Manfred B. Steger considers the major dimensions of globalization: economic, political, cultural, ideological, and ecological. He looks at its causes and effects, and engages with the hotly contested question of whether globalization is, ultimately, a good or a bad thing. From climate change to the Ebola virus, Donald Trump to Twitter, trade wars to China's growing global profile, Steger explores today's unprecedented levels of planetary integration as well as the recent challenges posed by resurgent national populism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

For a century, economists have driven forward the cause of globalization in financial institutions, labour markets, and trade. Yet there have been consistent warning signs that a global economy and free trade might not always be advantageous. Where are the pressure points? What could be done about them? Dani Rodrik examines the back-story from its seventeenth-century origins through the milestones of the gold standard, the Bretton Woods Agreement, and the Washington Consensus, to the present day. Although economic globalization has enabled unprecedented levels of prosperity in advanced countries and has been a boon to hundreds of millions of poor workers in China and elsewhere in Asia, it is a concept that rests on shaky pillars, he contends. Its long-term sustainability is not a given. The heart of Rodrik’s argument is a fundamental 'trilemma': that we cannot simultaneously pursue democracy, national self-determination, and economic globalization. Give too much power to governments, and you have protectionism. Give markets too much freedom, and you have an unstable world economy with little social and political support from those it is supposed to help. Rodrik argues for smart globalization, not maximum globalization.

Erudite and topical, this well balanced treatment, with essays from world renowned contributors including the former President of Ireland – Mary Robinson, Jagdish Bhagwati and Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, considers the forces that propel globalization and those that resist it. Local and regional experiences from Bangladesh, China, India, Latin America and the Middle East are analyzed along with some of globalization’s most potent risks. Giving voice to sophisticated and illustrative reasoning, The Future of Globalization offers useful insights into the extraordinary human achievement brought about by increasing international economic integration, interdependence and interconnectedness, and shows how this has been a powerful force for the progress of humankind. The contributors take stock of the debate on globalization and explore ways to make globalization more beneficial for individuals, communities and countries, as well as ways to reduce its insufficiencies and mitigate the risks it faces. This book will benefit all students of economics, political science and international relations, among others, and is useful to courses that focus on globalization and its impacts.

'Globalization' has become one of the defining buzzwords of our time - a term that describes a variety of accelerating economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental processes that are rapidly altering our experience of the world. It is by its nature a dynamic topic - and this Very Short Introduction has been fully updated for a third edition, to include recent developments in global politics, the global economy, and environmental issues. Presenting globalization in accessible language as a multifaceted process encompassing global, regional, and local aspects of social life, Manfred B. Steger looks at its causes and effects, examines whether it is a new phenomenon, and explores the question of whether, ultimately, globalization is a good or a bad thing. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

"Digital technology will bring globalisation and robotics (globotics) to previously shielded professional and service sectors. Jobs will be displaced at the eruptive pace of digital technology while they will be replaced at a normal historical pace. The mismatch will produce a backlash - the globotics upheaval"--

Globalization and the Future of the Welfare State focuses on the effects of globalization and free trade on social welfare policies in a variety of developing countries in Asia and Latin America.

An FT SUMMER READ 2020 The forces of globalization have transformed the world economically, but in the West politics is becoming increasingly fractured as living standards stagnate for all but the very wealthy. As a result, alienation and nationalism are on the rise. China, in the meantime, has become the most powerful economy in the world from the same forces of globalization which have imprisoned the west. Here, Grzegorz W. Kolodko parses the economic system in China and brings his uniquely clear and far sighted analysis to bear on the global economy. Through a qualitative and extensive quantitative economic analysis of the global economy, and it's tilt towards Asia, Kolodko offers prescriptions on how the west can learn from China's approach, and make globalization work for citizens once more. An essential book for scholars and students of political economy, from one of the West's most authoritative scholars and practitioners. Translated by Joanna Luczak

Today’s most urgent problems are fundamentally global. They require nothing less than concerted, planetwide action if we are to secure a long-term future. But humanity’s story has always been on a global scale. In this book, Jeffrey D. Sachs, renowned economist and expert on sustainable development, turns to world history to shed light on how we can meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Sachs takes readers through a series of seven distinct waves of technological and institutional change, starting with the original settling of the planet by early modern humans through long-distance migration and ending with reflections on today’s globalization. Along the way, he considers how the interplay of geography, technology, and institutions influenced the Neolithic revolution; the role of the horse in the emergence of empires; the spread of large land-based empires in the classical age; the rise of global empires after the opening of sea routes from Europe to Asia and the Americas; and the industrial age. The dynamics of these past waves, Sachs demonstrates, offer fresh perspective on the ongoing processes taking place in our own time—a globalization based on digital technologies. Sachs emphasizes the need for new methods of international governance and cooperation to prevent conflicts and to achieve economic, social, and environmental objectives aligned with sustainable development. The Ages of Globalization is a vital book for all readers aiming to make sense of our rapidly changing world.

History has declared globalization the winner of the 20th century. Globalization connected the world and created wealth unimaginable in the wake of the Second World War. But the financial crisis of 2008-09 has now placed at risk the liberal economic policies behind globalization. Engulfing the entire world, the crisis gave new fuel to the skeptics of the benefits of economic integration. Policy responses seem to favor anti-globalizers. New regulations could balkanize the global financial system, while widespread protectionist impulses might undo the Doha Round. Issues from climate change to national security may be used as convenient excuses to keep imports out, keep jobs at home, and to clamp down on global capital. Will globalization triumph or perish in the 21st century? What reforms make sense in the post-crisis world?International economists Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Kati Suominen argue that globalization has been a force of great good, one that needs to be actively advanced and honed. Drawing on the latest economic analyses, they reveal the drivers and effects of global finance and trade, lay out the key risks to globalization, and offer a practical policy roadmap for managing the challenges while increasing the gains. Vital reading for anyone in business, finance, foreign affairs, or economics, Globalization at Risk is sure to advance public debate on this defining issue of the 21st century.

. . . Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade amongst you, by mutual consent . . . and help you one another in righteousness and piety. . . (Al-Hadid 4:29; Al-Ma’idah 5:2) There cannot be any doubt that the current ?nancial crisis, which began in the US, has gone global. This realization has fuelled the ?re of debate over globalization. Today’s globalization is no longer the globalization that Theodore Levitt, a former professor at the Harvard Business School, described in 1983 in his world famous article ‘‘The Globalization of Markets. ’’ Although, in old days, Levitt and his successors had not seen globalization as an utopian state free of problems, no- days globalization has been reshaped completely. Therefore, in the perception of the editors it is justi?ed to use the phrase ‘‘Globalisation 2. 0’’ for the range of effects interpenetrating global economic arrangements. Globalisation 1. 0 will never be restored again. Since the subprime crisis made its way to the global arena in the year 2008, companies and managers are confronted with the breathtaking speed of global, regional, and local changes. It is more than a provocation to divide dev- opments into cause and effects. Forecasts in strategic management are no longer valid even for the moment they are published. Uncertainty occupies the driving seats in global, regional, and local oriented companies.