Globalization and Fragmentation International Relations in the Twentieth Century

As we approach the end of the twentieth century, a widespread interest in globalization is thought to be changing all economic, political, and cultural life. Ian Clark takes globalization--and its opposite, fragmentation--as the organizing theme for a grand retrospective of twentieth century international history. He argues that both globalization and fragmentation have ebbed and flowed throughout the century, governed by its great formative events: westernization, the two World Wars, the depression, and the rise and fall of the cold war. Globalization and Fragmentation sets out a challenging analysis of globalization, offering the most advanced and accessible introduction to twentieth century international relations.

As we approach the end of the twentieth century, there is widespread interest in globalization which is thought to be shaping our lives technologically, economically, culturally, and in terms of changing political identities. Ian Clark takes globalizationand its opposite, fragmentation as the organizing themes for a grand retrospective of twentieth-century international history. Challenging the presentation of globalization as a pre-ordained, technology-driven, and irreversible process, he argues that both globalization and fragmentation have ebbed and flowed throughout the century, governed by its great formative events: westernization, the two World Wars, the depression, and the rise and fall of the cold war. Globalization and Fragmentation offers a succinct, original critique of the century's international developments. It sets out a challenging analysis of globalization as a process reflecting political relations both between and within states, and brings together the historical and theoretical study of international relations.

1. - Globalization and Fragmentation
2. - The Paradoxes of the Pre-War World, 1900-1914
3. - The Impact of War, 1914-1919
4. - The Fragmentation of the Inter-War Era, 1919-1939
5. - States of War, 1939-1945
6. - The Cold War and Globalization, 1945-1969
7. - Eras of Negotiation and Confrontation, 1970-1989
8. - Beyond the Cold War, 1990-2000

Ian Clark is Deputy Director of the Centre of International Studies at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge.