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. * CHOICE *
[T]he core of this thought-provoking book, with its rich, but never dense, analyses, is not so much what 'globalisation' means in itself, as what it means for governance, and for democratic governance in particular.... Marchetti expertly leads the reader through a discussion of the theoretical interpretations of globalisation..... Marchetti's analysis and his tentative conclusions are particularly timely.... [I]f there is only time to read one book on globalisation, Global Strategic Engagement would be a good place to start. * European Political Science *
Globalization is a controversial phenomenon.... Many authors studied the phenomena...with the end of the 1990s. However, since then, the path of global integration under uncontested American leadership (p. 161) has begun to be questioned. These developments make this recently published book an interesting read and innovative contribution to the debate on state and non-state actors in global governance. * Global Policy *
At a time in which globalisation is both at its peak and under unprecedented strain, Marchetti provides an excellent analysis of the political, social and economic dimensions of globalisation, its evolution and its current predicament, making a compelling liberal case for global strategic engagement in the decades ahead. -- Nathalie Tocci, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome
How should we understand the ever more complex and all-encompassing phenomenon of globalization, and how does it affect domestic and international politics? Can national and transnational actors find ways to address increasingly global challenges? Raffaele Marchetti provides a nuanced and thought-provoking analysis of politics in the age of globalization, looking both into the past and developing concrete scenarios about where we are heading. In an ever more connected world, there could not be a more timely moment for this excellent book. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in how global dynamics will shape our lives. -- Oliver Stuenkel, Getulio Vargas Foundation
Global Strategic Engagement presents a cogent overview of contemporary global governance arguing that states, international organizations, and civil society groups now share political authority. Much needed and particularly novel is Marchetti's discussion of contending visions of governance-not only neo-liberal and cosmopolitan, but also increasingly important but little examined localist and civilizational discourses. -- Clifford Bob, Duquesne University
