Global Politics In The Human Interest

Third World underdevelopment, the declining influence of the superpowers, the economic strength of Japan and Western Europe, and global economic and ecological interdependence have transformed the world political agenda. This book provides tools for understanding the threats and the opportunities posed by this transformation.

Addressing interrelated global problems--human rights violations, war and armaments, sustainable development, and environmental destruction--Gurtov explores the threats and the opportunities posed by the changing world order.

This challenging text questions the meaning and extent of globalization and identifies a range of problems which are global in scope or impact. It provides authoritative, in-depth yet accessible analyses of some of the most important issues facing humankind today. These include the structural inequalities inherent in contemporary North-South relations, the development of a global economy, the human dimensions of global environmental change and its management, the meaning of and prospects for democratization in a range of contexts, and debates surrounding the development of a broadly focused and inclusive human rights agenda. The authors demonstrate that global politics must encompass a wide variety of non-state as well as state actors. This involves an explicit rejection of the traditional realist approach to international politics with its focus upon interstate relations and issues of diplomacy and security. Nevertheless the traditional agenda is not neglected but is revisited in the light of contemporary events and debates. The book includes a survey and critique of structural analyses of international politics, an authoritative discussion of the implications of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and analysis of the meaning of and approaches to conflict and security in the post Cold War world. As well as providing a lucid analysis of contemporary issues, the book constitutes an accessible resource for understanding global perspectives on world affairs. It is a textbook for the past-Cold War era of interest to students of politics, international studies, human geography, development economics and Third World studies.

This text questions the meaning and extent of globalization and identifies a range of problems which are global in scope or impact. It provides authoritative, in-depth yet accessible analyses of some of the most important issues facing humankind today. It is a textbook for the post-cold War era of interest to students of politics, international studies, human geography, development economics and Third World studies.

Praise for the previous editions:?A much-needed alternative to the usual treatment of world politics.??International Journal of Comparative Sociology?Mel Gurtov?s enormous contribution is to provide an alternative to the misplaced faith in global markets and the nation-state system as the best means to provide for human needs and genuine security.??Paul Joseph, Tufts UniversityTraditional studies of world politics emphasize the struggle between states as they search for national security. But increasing interdependence has transformed the world political agenda, creating the need for new tools to explain the changing reality of global politics. Global Politics in the Human Interest provides those tools.This fully revised fifth edition thoroughly covers post?September 11 developments. Addressing such interrelated issues as terrorism, democratic transitions, nationalism, human rights violations, armed conflicts, economic globalization, and sustainable development, Gurtov explores the threats and opportunities posed by the changing world order. The book retains its practical bent, revealing how global politics affects the quality and content of people?s lives. Mel Gurtov is professor of political science and international studies at Portland State University. His most recent book is Superpower on Crusade: The Bush Doctrine in US Foreign Policy. Professor Gurtov is editor-in-chief of Asian Perspective a quarterly journal in international affairs.Contents: Crisis and Interdependence in Contemporary World Politics. Realism and Globalism in Theory and Practice. (case studies: The US. The Mexican and Asian Financial Crises. Iraq.) World Politics in Global-Humanist Perspective. (case study: North Korea, Iran, and Weapons of Mass Destruction.) The Third World and the Fourth. (case studies: Russia. South Korea. Sub-Saharan Africa. Latin America.) The US and China: Cooperation or Confrontation? Europe and Japan. In the Human Interest: An Agenda for Transforming World Politics.

Introduction -- Defining the public interest in the US and European patent systems -- Confronting the questions of life-form patentability -- Commodification, animal dignity, and patent-system publics -- Forging new patent politics through the human embryonic stem cell debates -- Human genes, plants, and the distributive implications of patents -- Conclusion

In an effort to determine the extent to which the United States contributes to the creation of a preferred system of world order, Robert Johansen considers the country's performance against a framework of four major global values: peace, economic wellbeing, social justice, and ecological balance. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.