Many individuals proclaim that global capitalism is here to stay. Unfettered markets, they argue, now drive the world, and all countries must adjust, no matter how painful this may be for some. Robert Gilpin, author of the widely acclaimed Political Economy of International Relations (Princeton, 1987), urges us, however, not to take an open and integrated global economy for granted. Rather, we must consider the political circumstances that have enabled global markets to function and the probability that these conditions will continue. Gilpin's new book amounts to a magisterial inquiry into all major aspects of the contemporary world political economy. Beginning with the 1989 end of the Cold War and the subsequent collapse of communism, it focuses on globalization and rapid technological change and covers a broad sweep of economic developments and political cultures. Gilpin demonstrates the fragility of a global and integrated economy and recommends what can be done to strengthen it.

The international community has another chance to solidify the global market economy that collapsed with the outbreak of World War I. Yet, writes Gilpin, the full implications of this historic development for international affairs are not yet clear. Will socialist economies make a successful transition to market-type economies? What role will a dynamic China play in the world economy? Will the United States continue to exercise leadership or gravitate toward self-centered policies? Gilpin explores such questions along with problems in the areas of trade liberalization, multinational corporations, and destabilizing financial flows. He also investigates the struggles of less developed countries and the spread of economic regionalism, particularly in Europe, North America, and Pacific Asia, which directly threatens an open world economy.

The author maintains that global capitalism and economic globalization have rested and must continue to rest on a secure political foundation. However, this foundation has eroded since the end of the Soviet threat. To ensure survival of the global economy, Gilpin concludes, the United States and other major powers must recommit themselves to working together to rebuild its weakened political foundations.

Robert G. Gilpin is the Dwight D. Eisenhower professor of Public and International Affairs, Emeritus. He taught at Princeton University, in the Department of Politics and the Woodrow Wilson School, from 1962 to 1998. His specialties included science and politics, American foreign policy, theories of international relations, international political economy, and the political and economic integration of Western Europe.

His published books include American Scientists and Nuclear Weapons Policy, France in the Age of the Scientific State, US Power and the Multinational Corporation, War and Change in World Politics, The Political Economy of International Relations, The Challenge of Global Capitalism, and Global Political Economy. These books have been translated into a number of languages throughout Europe and Asia, and some have received awards for noteworthy scholarship.

Gilpin's present research interests are in the application of realist thinking to contemporary American policies in the Middle East.