Controversies in Globalization: Contending Approaches to International Relations

Debate style readers can be powerful teaching tools, but they are only effective in so far as the readings really speak to one another. Without readings in true dialogue, the crux of the debate is lost on students, the reader fails to add real depth to the course, and students are left in the lurch.

Controversies in Globalization solves this issue by inviting 17 pairs of scholars and practitioners to write specifically for the volume, directly addressing current and relevant questions in international relations through concise "yes" and "no" pieces on topics related to security, political economy, the environment, public health, democracy, demography, and social issues like gender and ethnicity. At the request of reviewers, new to this edition are three chapters covering the financial crisis, maritime security, and international conflict. Providing students with necessary context, the editors offer introductions that effectively frame the debate and make clear what is at stake, both from a theoretical as well as from a practical perspective. Concluding discussion questions in each chapter encourage critical thinking and analysis.

Haas and Hird′s edited collection helps readers come to terms with the varying perspectives on globalization, and urges critical reflection and the exploration of alternate views.

Peter M. Haas (Ph.D., MIT) is professor and Graduate Program Director at University of Massachusetts at Amherst and specializes in international relations, international relations theory, international political economy, international environmental politics, international institutions, and global governance. He is a member of the editorial boards of Journal of European Public Policy, Global Environmental Politics, and MIT Press series on Politics, Science and the Environment and is the author or editor of Emerging Forces in Environmental Governance (edited with Norichika Kanie), The International Environment in the New Global Economy, Knowledge, Power and International Policy Coordination, Institutions for the Earth (edited with Robert O. Keohane and Marc A. Levy), and Saving the Mediterranean.

John A. Hird (Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley) is professor of political science and Department Chair at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His areas of interest and expertise include policy advising, the use of science and technical knowledge in policymaking, policy analysis, and environmental policy. Prior to coming to Amherst, he served at the Brookings Institution and the President′s Council of Economic Advisers. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and has consulted on issues from the Massachusetts economy to regulatory reform in Japan. He is the first recipient of the Mills Award from the Policy Studies Organization for an outstanding contributor to policy studies under age 35. His books include Power, Knowledge, and Politics: Policy Analysis in the States, Controversies in American Public Policy, and Superfund: The Political Economy of Environmental Risk, and he has published articles in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Yale Journal on Regulation, Social Science Quarterly, and other professional journals.