Many individuals proclaim that global capitalism is here to stay. Unfettered markets, they argue, now drive the world, and all countires must adjust, no matter how painful this must be for some. Robert Gilpin urges us, however, not to take an open and intergrated global economy for granted. Rather, we must consider the political that have enabled global markets to function and the probablity that these conditions will continue. This work is an enquiry into all major aspects of the contemporary world political economy. Beginning with the 1989 end of the Cold War and the subsquent 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.