Search Results

The ascent of globalisation captures the sweeping drama of postwar globalisation through intimate portraits of twenty of its key architects. These profiles provide insights into what inspired these pioneers of globalisation — the beliefs they each imbibed in their youth, the formative experiences that shaped their ideas and their contributions to the global architecture. Engaging anecdotes and telling personal details, many of which have never been told, enliven each of the stories, as well as the behind-the-scenes dramas that accompanied the creation of institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, UN and World Trade Organization and the informal governance structures that are part of the postwar global architecture. Their legacies are critically examined, both their successes and their disappointments: a global financial system that is fragile and unstable; an international trading system that is unfair; the unintended consequences of largely unregulated transnational capital; and dysfunction that plagues institutions like the European Union and the United Nations. The book ends by examining what implications the flawed architecture may have for the future of globalisation.

India Turns East tells the story of India’s long and difficult journey to reclaim its status in a rapidly changed environment increasingly shaped by the US-China rivalry and the uncertainties of US commitment to Asia’s security. The so-called Look East Policy initially aimed at reconnecting India with Asia’s economic globalization. As China becomes more assertive, Look East has rapidly evolved into a comprehensive strategy with political and military dimensions which, together with favourable circumstances, have gradually allowed for a closer relationship with the United States. But the book argues that despite this rapprochement, the congruence of Indian and US objectives regarding China is not absolute. The two countries share similar concerns, but differ about the role China should play in the emerging regional architecture. Moreover, though bilateral US policies are usually perceived positively in New Delhi, paradoxically, the multilateral dimension of the US Rebalance to Asia policy sometimes pushes New Delhi closer to Beijing’s positions than to Washington’s. The asymmetry of power between the United States and India and their geographic separation make the persistence of significant divergences inevitable. The challenge for India is to reinvent the concept of strategic autonomy — defined as a position allowing India to leverage US capacities while avoiding being drawn into a zero-sum game between the US and China — but it will ultimately be able to do so only if it does make itself more attractive. Economic reforms are a key to India relationships with both the US and China.