The pandemic has deepened existing trends in the international system, in particular the readjustment of alliances between nations and between regions. As spheres of influence disintegrate and reform, so national and regional security policies will change in unforeseen ways notwithstanding that individual state self-preservation will dominate policy choice. Three major dimensions are addressed. The first dimension is International Relations and Economy. The coronavirus has accelerated a global economic crisis comparable to those of 1929, 1987 and 2008. Are the major economic trading blocs moving to a war economy, and who might win or lose in this context? The second dimension of analysis is the growth of Information Communication. Hybrid and fragmented, especially in terms of the use of social media, the use of veiled threat and promoting discord in the form of providing provocative information on topics of the day can lead to conflict consequences and all its negative impacts. The third dimension is Geopolitical Reconfiguration. While world powers are always manoeuvring for an enhanced military and economic position, the pandemic offers new opportunities to capitalise on the changing power balance. The editors and contributors engage with the differing power polarities between China, the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, and the European Union. This book is one of the first to present research on the effects of COVID-19 on national public policy. Cross-cultural analysis of its effects, and the way in which different societies have addressed the fight against the virus, provides insight into the relations between states and possible solutions in the international arena. The work is essential reading for all those involved in international affairs and policy-making.

Re-Globalization examines the changing face of globalization, with political, economic, and social balances in flux, and tensions increasing in many parts of the globe. This book discusses and problematizes the current transition phase of globalization in response to issues such as inequalities, climate change, and health crises, offering a comprehensive collection of responses to the question “what is re- globalization?” The authors discuss the various definitions and forms of re-globalization, using a range of approaches, examples, and case studies in order to shed light on this process. The analysis of the phenomenon of re- globalization – understood as an economic, political, and social process – is both inter- and transdisciplinary. This volume offers contributions from academic disciplines within the social sciences, as well as technology, global security, global studies, health, and climate and environmental sciences. Overall, the book analyzes and illustrates how globalization shifts are interconnected and how they relate to a transition in global society, proposing a framework for a series of future scenarios. This socio- geographically diverse book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and researchers across a broad spectrum of disciplines exploring the future of globalization.

Climate change seems to be an insurmountable problem. Political solutions have so far had little impact. Some scientists are now advocating the so-called 'Plan B', a more direct way of reducing the rate of future warming by reflecting more sunlight back to space, creating a thermostat in the sky. In this book, Mike Hulme argues against this kind of hubristic techno-fix. Drawing upon a distinguished career studying the science, politics and ethics of climate change, he shows why using science to fix the global climate is undesirable, ungovernable and unattainable. Science and technology should instead serve the more pragmatic goals of increasing societal resilience to weather risks, improving regional air quality and driving forward an energy technology transition. Seeking to reset the planet’s thermostat is not the answer.

The Third UN is the ecology of supportive non-state actors-intellectuals, scholars, consultants, think tanks, NGOs, the for-profit private sector, and the media-that interacts with the intergovernmental machinery of the First UN (member states) and the Second UN (staff members of international secretariats) to formulate and refine ideas and decision-making at key junctures in policy processes. Some advocate for particular ideas, others help analyze or operationalize their testing and implementation; many thus help the UN 'think'. While think tanks, knowledge brokers, and epistemic communities are phenomena that have entered both the academic and policy lexicons, their intellectual role remains marginal to analyses of such intergovernmental organizations as the United Nations.

Framing the Global explores new and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of global issues. Essays are framed around the entry points or key concepts that have emerged in each contributor's engagement with global studies in the course of empirical research, offering a conceptual toolkit for global research in the 21st century.

This book draws on comparative and international political economy to explore alternative options for future economic development in the wake of COVID-19. Covering all major infrastructures of contemporary capitalism affected by the pandemic, it analyses the impacts of the crisis on our global socio-economic-political systems.

Offers a systematic, up-to-date evaluation of the debate relating to international trade law, policy and gender equality.