This book examines infrastructure privatization, worldwide and particularly in the United States, by investment banks as one way to promote economic growth and productivity. More specifically, it focuses on the Macquarie Group Ltd. From its modest beginnings is Australia some forty years ago Macquarie has achieved preeminence as the world's leading non-governmental operator of infrastructure assets. The infrastructure fund model pioneered by Macquarie leases (or buys) staid assets ranging from toll roads to airports, piles on debt, and reaps handsome fees.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Globalisation impacts almost all aspects of life. It is often said that change is accelerating, and that the nation state is increasingly anachronistic. This book challenges that consensus, arguing that globalisation is neither an historic nor technological inevitability; rather, globalisation and technological change are as old as capitalism itself. Jonathan Michie makes the case for a new, more realistic approach to economics. He argues that the reduced power of national governments is a result of the free-market reforms of globalisation created in the 1980s era of Thatcher and Reagan, which led to the 2008 global financial crisis and recession. The free-market 'capitalism unleashed' form of globalisation is neither inevitable nor desirable - it is possible to develop a new global green deal for economic progress, being socially and environmentally sustainable. Michie demonstrates that capital has become unproductive with increased speculation and tax evasion, and that taxing wealth is necessary to create a new era of globally sustainable development. Key features include: in-depth coverage of globalisation written in a concise and accessible style disputes the consensus that globalisation is an historic or technological inevitability focus on current issues such as unproductive capital, a result of increased speculation, tax evasion and avoidance advocates policy proposals for global regulation, taxation and corporate diversity argues the need for a new global green deal for social and environmental sustainability and makes a clear case for an improved and more realistic approach to economics. The Advanced Introduction to Globalisation will be a challenging yet engaging read for policy makers, academics and advanced students of economics, management and business, politics and environmental studies. This book sets out an alternative worldview which will interest anyone concerned with our future global prospects.

Comparing Regionalisms summarizes the UNU/WIDER international research project on the formation of world regions, and what implications this process will have for the future world order, especially for peace and development. This last volume in a series of five focuses on comparative research, covering all important regions of the world. Acknowledging the enormous variety of regional formations, the contributors nevertheless argue that a comparative approach to the dynamics of regionalization will provide important knowledge not only about the regions in question, but also about the emerging world order.

City Life from Jakarta to Dakar focuses on the politics incumbent to this process ? an "anticipatory politics" ? that encompasses a wide range of practices, calculations and economies. As such, the book is not a collection of case studies on a specific theme, not a review of developmental problems, nor does it marshal the focal cities as evidence of particular urban trends. Rather, it examines how possibilities, perhaps inherent in these cities all along, are materialized through the everyday projects of residents situated in the city and the larger world in very different ways.

The book argues that a successful monetary and banking reform requires: a rollback of monetary nationalism and return to monetary internationalism; trust in the banking system with its basic functions restored; a balance between competition and solidarity in order to assure political and social acceptance of globalization.

With isolationism and protectionism strengthening in response to the forces of globalization, the interrelationship of the national and supranational in shaping good governance norms has become increasingly relevant. Good Governance in Economic Development critically examines the transparency and accountability mechanisms underpinning international trade, finance, and investment regimes, particularly in view of the intensifying influence of China. It also explores the Chinese state's engagement with these norms, shedding light not only on how the principles of transparency, accountability, and public participation are applied within China, but also on the ability of China to affect international rules.

This collection explores the expansion of Chinese outbound investments, aimed to sustain the increased need for natural resources, and how they have amplified the magnitude of a possible international crisis that the People's Republic of China may face in the near future by bringing together the views of a wide range of scholars. President Xi's Belt and Road initiative (BRI), aimed to promote economic development and exchanges with China for over 60 countries, necessitates a wide range of security procedures. While the threats to Chinese enterprises and Chinese workers based on foreign soil are poised to increase, there is an urgent need to develop new guidelines for risk assessment, special insurance and crisis management. While the Chinese State Owned Enterprises are expanding their international reach capabilities, they still do not have the capacity to assure adequate security. In such a climate, this collection will be of profound value to policy makers, those working in the financial sector, and academics.

"New Systems Theories of World Politics" uses systems theoretical approaches to analyze the structure and dynamics of the international system. Drawing from different systems theoretical traditions, it argues that the system of world politics can be analyzed in a comprehensive fashion by continuing the pioneering work of theorists like Karl Deutsch.

This book analyzes the issues surrounding globalization and explores the prospects of the global economy, as well as the potential vulnerabilities. Issues covered include trade agreements, poverty and inequality, financial globalization, the environment, international economic law and threats to the future of globalization.

This book reinforces the need to understand the sources of global change that is taking place and to accommodate it in the world political, social, and economic systems. Linking the United States, China, India, and Russia along with Europe and the Middle East, the author addresses demographics, international trade, technology, and climate change as global challenges that require cooperation in order to be solved. Both academics and policymakers will be enlightened, discovering ways of addressing global change by working together rather than through confrontation.

This edited volume addresses the dynamic global contexts redefining Asia Pacific higher education, including cross-border education, capacity and national birthrate profiles, pressures created within ranking/status systems, and complex shifts in the meanings of the public good that influence public education in an increasingly privatized world.

Globalization has become one of the most important topics within politics and economics. This new title explains some of the related terminology, summarizes the surrounding theories and examines the international organizations involved.

With the proliferation of communications and the rise of the multi-national corporation, the concept of globalization is vitally important to the modern political environment. The structure of the modern economy, based on information production and diffusion, has made national boundaries largely irrelevant.

A Dictionary of Globalization explains theories, philosophies and ideologies, and includes short biographies of leading activists, theorists and thinkers such as Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx and Jose Bove. Concepts, issues and terms key to the understanding of globalization also have clear and concise definitions, including democracy, civil society, non-governmental organizations and ethnicity.

Cross-referenced for ease of use, this title aims to be of great benefit to anyone studying politics or sociology. It will prove essential to public and academic libraries, as well as to businesses, government departments, embassies and journalists.

* THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 'Another masterpiece from one of my favorite authors . . . If you want a brief but thorough education in numeric thinking about many of the fundamental forces that shape human life, this is the book to read. It's a tour de force' BILL GATES __________ We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check - because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, making their complete and rapid elimination unlikely. Drawing on the latest science and tackling sources of misinformation head on - from Yuval Noah Harari to Noam Chomsky - ultimately Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? __________ 'Very informative and eye-opening in many ways' HA-JOON CHANG, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism 'If you are anxious about the future, and infuriated that we aren't doing enough about it, please read this book' PAUL COLLIER, author of The Future of Capitalism

This text examines two major themes: the strain placed on local economic cultures and economic networks in the Southern hemisphere and Eastern Europe by global deregulation; and the success rates of both novel, locally-rooted and more traditional economic structures in their attempts to adapt to deregulation. Contributions from a variety of authors combine a "flexible specialization in clusters" approach with original empirical data. An introduction and concluding chapter by the editors brings out the common issues and conclusions.

As survivors of genocide, mnemonicide, colonization, and forced assimilation, American Indians face a unique set of rhetorical exigencies in US public culture. Decolonizing Native American Rhetoric brings together critical essays on the cultural and political rhetoric of American indigenous communities, including essays on the politics of public memory, culture and identity controversies, stereotypes and caricatures, mascotting, cinematic representations, and resistance movements and environmental justice. This volume brings together recognized scholars and emerging voices in a series of critical projects that question the intersections of civic identity, including how American indigenous rhetoric is complicated by or made more dynamic when refracted through the lens of gender, race, class, and national identity. The authors assembled in this project employ a variety of rhetorical methods, theories, and texts committed to the larger academic movement toward the decolonization of Western scholarship. This project illustrates the invaluable contributions of American Indian voices and perspectives to the study of rhetoric and political communication.

Despite unprecedented levels of global interconnectedness, little academic attention has been paid to how governments actively deal with the challenges globalization poses for national identity. This book investigates the Singapore Government's approach to the construction of national identity and the shifting ways in which Singapore has been imagined in official discourses. The hallmarks of Singapore's nation-building project have been the state's efforts to manage ethnic differences and ensure the economic well-being of its citizenry. Unlike other global cities which are embedded in a larger nation-state, Singapore is both a global city and a nation-state. Singapore embodies a curious contradiction: while global cities are often theorized as transient spaces, contradictorily, the nation-state needs to be bounded in order to remain viable. This book focuses on the global/national nexus: the tensions between the necessity to embrace the global to ensure economic survival, yet needing a committed population to support the perpetuation of the nation-state and its economic success. It critically explores how the government has been responding to the challenges of globalization through policy initiatives and official rhetoric to create a "space" for affective identification with the Singaporean nation-state and how Singaporeans relate to and articulate their sense of identity and belonging to Singapore within the context of globalization.

This comprehensive book analyses debates on globalisation in China, focusing on the consequences of globalisation for the ideological, political and cultural realms. Since the mid-1990s, there has been intense interest in globalisation among the leaders and theorists of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and amongst non-Party Chinese intellectuals. It is the ideological, political and cultural dimensions of globalisation that are the focus of this book. Employing criteria drawn from the ideological history of the CCP and Western globalisation theory, Nick Knight critically evaluates these debates. He demonstrates that, under the influence of the CCP, a regime of truth has emerged on the nature and benefits of globalisation. The book provides a critical assessment of the Chinese discourse on this important subject. Drawing on a huge number of Chinese and Western documents on globalisation, this book will be invaluable to academics and students interested in contemporary Chinese politics and ideology, and international relations and globalisation theory. It will also greatly appeal to policymakers interested in China's position in and perception of the world.

Presenting a critical overview of what 'emerging multipolarity' means for the world's foremost global trading bloc and economic power, the European Union, this book offers new insights into how the rise of the emerging economies has impacted the EU and its role within the World Trade Organization.

Since the turn of the millennium, resistance to the liberal project of global governance has come to occupy centre stage in global and international politics. The Battle of Seattle, the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington and the Bush administration's ambivalent attitude towards multilateralism can all be thought of as conspicuous instances of the growing challenge to global governance. Global Governance, Conflict and Resistance provides a wide-ranging series of analyses of such challenges.

This book examines the fate of post-Soviet press freedom and media culture in the context of the growing impact of globalisation. To understand the complicated situation that has arisen with respect to these issues in post-Soviet space is impossible without collaboration between political scientists, sociologists, cultural analysts, media studies researchers and media practitioners. The book is one of the first attempts to bridge the gaps between political and cultural studies approaches, between textual analysis and audience research, as well as between practitioner-led and scholarly approaches to the post-Soviet media The cumulative impact of the essays contained in this section is to reinforce the intuition which inspired it: that the post-Soviet media remain a highly heterogeneous, complex and dynamic field for investigation. With contributions from scholars and journalists across Europe (including the former Soviet Union), the collection addresses such issues as censorship and elections, the legacy of the Soviet past, terrorism and the media, the post-Soviet business press, advertising and nation building, official press discourse and entrepreneurship, and global formats on Russian television.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.

This book critically examines the new issues and new politics regarding migration in the era of globalisation from a majority world perspective. It examines the current shifts in the global political economy and the effects it has, for example, in relation to rural displacement. When and how does this lead to national and/or transnational migration? We need to examine the ways in which migration is cut across and impacts on the generation of racism and xenophobia in the west. The issue of remittances by migrants to the developing nations needs careful study as does the controversial issue of brain drain versus brain gain through migration. The growing importance of trafficking for forced labour has now been taken up by various international bodies but is it the new normality or simply an unfortunate side effect of globalisation to be overcome through legislation? Migration is becoming increasingly gendered in its composition and flows but also in the receiving countries where men and women do very different jobs. We can predict the increasing racialization and gendering of migration but how will the state and society respond to these shifts?

This book was published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Globalization has provoked passionate debate and street demonstrations reminiscent of May 1968.The central question of Europe and Globalization is 'what did Europe do for globalization in the past, and what is globalization doing for Europe today?' The contributors to the volume assess this complex process, and Europe's role within it. Bringing together a team of leading international scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds, this is a valuable and wide-ranging contribution to the debate.

The debate on the impact of globalization tends to stress different and sometimes opposite aspects. Some argue that globalization is likely to have a positive impact on economic growth and efficiency, whereas others seem worried of its negative impact on workers, of the generation of new forms of social exclusion and of a worsening of market failure. The essays presented in this volume offer critical elements for assessing these positions. They also examine the role of national and international institutions in ensuring that globalization leads to a more sustained and equitable economic growth without endangering social cohesion.

This fascinating and ambitious book proposes a new strategy ("the Ramo Plan") to tackle the current global socioeconomic crisis. Issuing a direct challenge to the status quo, the author lays out a bold set of policies to overcome the West-East divide and lead us to a more successful and secure future. Alongside the presentation of a new economic approach, this book provides a thorough survey of the major forces behind the decline in economic growth rates. It examines the state of the major world economies, explores the impact of the global debt crisis, identifies the income and wealth gaps in the United States and other countries, and explains the relationship between these issues and the spread of alienation, radicalism and terrorism. Imaginative and refreshing, this is valuable and original reading for students and academics interested in international political economy, economic development, sustainable development, and social economics, as well as global policy, area studies, globalization studies, and international relations.

Scholars of postcolonial and LGBT studies examine the validity of the globalization of queer cultures Globalization has a taste for queer cultures. Whether in advertising, film, performance art, the internet, or in the political discourses of human rights in emerging democracies, queerness sells and the transnational circulation of peoples, identities and social movements that we call "globalization" can be liberating to the extent that it incorporates queer lives and cultures. From this perspective, globalization is seen as allowing the emergence of queer identities and cultures on a global scale. The essays in Queer Globalizations bring together scholars of postcolonial and lesbian and gay studies in order to examine from multiple perspectives the narratives that have sought to define globalization. In examining the tales that have been spun about globalization, these scholars have tried not only to assess the validity of the claims made for globalization, they have also attempted to identify the tactics and rhetorical strategies through which these claims and through which global circulation are constructed and operate. Contributors include Joseba Gabilondo, Gayatri Gopinath, Janet Ann Jakobsen, Miranda Joseph, Katie King, William Leap, Lawrence LaFountain-Stokes, Bill Maurer, Cindy Patton, Chela Sandoval, Ann Pellegrini, Silviano Santiago, and Roberto Strongman.