Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this book James Rosenau explores the enormous changes which are currently transforming world affairs. He argues that the dynamics of economic globalization, new technologies, and evolving global norms are clashing with equally powerful localizing dynamics. The resulting encounters between diverse interests and actors are rendering the boundaries between domestic and foreign affairs ever more porous and creating a political space, designated as the 'Frontier,' wherein the quest for control in world politics is joined. The author contends that it is along the Frontier, and not in the international arena, that issues are contested and the course of events configured. The book examines a number of contexts and agents through which local, national, and international affairs are woven together. Rosenau's recurring theme is the challenge of achieving governance along the turbulent domestic-foreign Frontier.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of figures and tables (p. xi)
• Preface (p. xiii)
• Acknowledgments (p. xv)
• Part I Intellectual contexts (p. 1)
• 1 Frontiers (p. 3)
• 2 Change (p. 12)
• 3 Worldviews (p. 25)
• Part II Global contexts (p. 53)
• 4 Turbulence (p. 55)
• 5 Globalization (p. 78)
• 6 Fragmegration (p. 99)
• 7 Boundaries (p. 118)
• 8 Governance (p. 144)
• 9 Norms (p. 174)
• 10 Environments (p. 189)
• Part III Societal contexts (p. 215)
• 11 Sovereignty (p. 217)
• 12 Constitutions (p. 237)
• 13 Elections (p. 254)
• Part IV Actors (p. 273)
• 14 Individuals (p. 275)
• 15 Publics (p. 299)
• 16 Leaders (p. 311)
• 17 Organizations (p. 326)
• 18 States (p. 341)
• 19 Militaries (p. 364)
• 20 The United Nations (p. 387)
• Part V Conclusions (p. 401)
• 21 Democracy (p. 403)
• 22 War and peace (p. 413)
• 23 Exploring governance in a turbulent world (p. 439)
• Epilogue (p. 450)
• Index (p. 452)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This study contends that many of the old concepts of international relations no longer provide guidance in an increasingly complex, turbulent world. Rosenau maintains that interstate borders have lost most of their meaning, and he relocates politics and governance from their traditional domestic and international settings to a "frontier" between the two. Norms governing a variety of human activities have disintegrated in the last decades even as innovations proliferate, launching an interregnum between old and new worlds. Meanwhile, a great number of individuals have become better educated and more assertive, resourceful, and empowered, rendering the trajectory of society entirely unpredictable. Traditional worldviews such as realism and liberalism have become fragmented and have lost their adherents. While some old norms are being reconditioned for the new world and other new ones created, it is uncertain whether these can prevent the new social forces from tearing existing societies apart, though Rosenau is cautiously optimistic that new forms of governance will emerge to contain and rationalize them. Compelling though this work is, its inattention to the constants in human behavior will limit its appeal mainly to those already converted to Rosenau's worldview. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. F. Clark Florida International University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

James N. Rosenau is University Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University