Global Strategic Engagement

Raffaele Marchetti is senior assistant professor in international relations at LUISS University, Rome.

• I – Globalization: A Complex and Controversial PhenomenonII – Measuring GlobalizationIII – Economic aspects of globalizationIV – Socio-cultural aspects of globalizationV – Institutions and actors in global governanceVI – The new cleavage: globalism vs localismVII – Transnational mechanisms and political strategiesVIII – Challenges and world order

Marchetti (Univ. of Rome) offers an excellent overview of existing issues and controversies in globalization. He enters the debate by arguing that shared governance is the hallmark of contemporary globalization. The book also critiques current perspectives on measuring and understanding globalization. Finally, the author examines all aspects of globalization; acknowledging that economics is central, Marchetti understands the significance of sociocultural and political factors. His primary contribution is a reconceptualization of the global system and international politics. In the past, the state-centric model was dominant. The author argues that states are no longer predominant; international and transnational institutions, including multinational corporations, have diminished the centrality of states in the international system. Marchetti suggests that globalization has intensified the cleavage between globalism and localism. As a result, international politics is about networking among actors. The book ends with scenarios based on the transformations provoked by globalization. In the end, the book is well-structured and organized and offers thoughtful ideas about globalization in the 21st century. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals.