Modern societies have been termed risk societies. Western culture obviously is unable to cope with too much uncertainty. Risk management has become a paradigm for good governance and prudent policies. Further sociological analysis reveals that those who stand in for the fight against risks often turn out to be the ones who cause them. We therefore not only need to rethink our concepts of accountability; we also need to sharpen our political tools of defence against imminent threats.

Since the end of the Cold War the growing integration of the world markets and the emergence of an international legal system have dramatically decreased the regulation capacities of the nation states. "Building a Transnational Civil Society" analyzes structural crises of globalization processes and demonstrates chances and limits of actors in transnational civil society and political movements - in short a new cosmopolitan internationalism. The areas of investigation are new economic developments, old and new social movements and the reality of wars and humanitarian intervention.