The Politics of Empire: Globalisation in Crisis(Transnational Institute)

This book explains the origins of a new period of world history that began with the 2000-2002 recession, the Bush administration and the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq. Bringing together eight leading writers and activists, from four continents, it presents a radical critique of the last twenty years of globalisation and the theories behind the neoliberal project. The contributors show how and why recent events are the direct result of the failure of corporate capitalism. Challenging the idea that globalisation is inevitable and unstoppable, the contributors show how it is leading us to an increasingly warlike and divided world. Synthesising two streams of thought -- anti-globalisation theory, and traditional left-wing political economic analysis -- the book pinpoints the main weaknesses of globalisation and shows how they affect particular regions of the world. Focusing on Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, the contributors set out a roadmap to alternative political and economic theory that will appeal to all those interested in the anti-globalisation movement, as well as to students of politics and economics.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: World empire – or a world of empires?
2. The inequality of nations
3. The Crisis of the Globalist Project and the New Economics of George W. Bush
4. Imperialist Globalization and the Political Economy of South Asia
5. Globalization and the New World Order: The new dynamics of imperialism and war
6. The Crisis of Global Capitalism: how it Looks from Latin America
7. Facing Global Apartheid
8. Unity, diversity and international cooperation: The US war drive and the anti-war movement
9. From Global Crisis to Neo-Imperialism: the Case for a Radical Alternative
Notes on contributors
Index

About the Author :
Boris Kagarlitsky is a senior research fellow in the Institute for Comparative Political Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was a political prisoner under Brezhnev and is the author of New Realism, New Barbarism, The Twilight of Globalisation and Russia under Yeltsin and Putin (all Pluto Press). Alan Freeman is economist at the Greater London Authority and visiting fellow of the University of Greenwich. He wrote The Benn Heresy, a biography of Tony Benn, and has co-edited 3 books with E. Mandel, G. Carchedi and A. Kliman.

Review :
'One of neo-liberalism's greatest crimes is to downgrade history, and the history of ideas. This book digs deep into history and, in a timely way, celebrates an intellectual but practical approach to the social, economic and environmental threats posed by globalisation' 'Strongly recommended for those wishing to understand the damage that is being wreaked in the name of promoting global prosperity and democracy'