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This introductory chapter provides an overview of global politics, starting with an account of the global political sphere as a specialized area of study—more conventionally known as the discipline of International Relations (IR)—and including an explanation of the distinction between the ‘global’ and the ‘international’. It also addresses the extent to which the world is ‘globalized’, even as some pundits herald a halt to globalization and a return to the closed politics of nationalism. The chapter then explores the history of globalization, which provides an essential backdrop to the understanding of the phenomenon in the present, and the challenges to it. This includes attention to the interweaving of globalization’s political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions and some of the implications for the current state-based world order. Finally, the chapter considers the role of theory and method, including concerns raised by the notion of a ‘post-truth’ world.

This chapter evaluates how law has come to function as a form of authority in global politics. It examines the myth of how international law provides a form of moral authority justifying rules, institutions, and enforcement mechanisms that will civilise global politics. As global politics is dominated by the struggle for survival between states and their conflicting self-interests, the myth of international law’s impossibility confronts its limitations. The chapter acknowledges the ambiguity of international law’s fundamental feature in the global scene as it simultaneously maintains global order and mediates political change. It references the work of Finnish international lawyer Marti Koskenniemi on questioning how the conflicts within international law are decided.

This chapter focuses on the origins and function of money within the field of global politics. It covers the myth that money developed in a politically neutral way as the most functional mode of exchange. Instead, money’s emergence and function has been deeply intertwined with the power and violence of the empire, including its conquests and enslavements. Thus, the influence of politics and economics on one another is impossible to detach in terms of contemporary global politics. The chapter then expounds on the historically strong connection between money and state power. Additionally, it also tackles the possible future of money which involves cyptocurrencies and local currencies.

This chapter looks into the mystery as to why many people think that capitalism is the only viable economic system. Globalisation has significantly transformed the economic lives of people, and this is visible on an everyday level. Beyond the process of production, capitalism also goes hand in hand with social transformations such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter campaign. Since capitalism is a deeply political system with far-reaching effects on the international system, the chapter explores the myth that capitalism operates as a system of free enterprise independent of state involvement. Additionally, it considers the importance of reflecting on new ways of thinking about capitalism and how a world after capitalism might look.

This chapter illustrates how ideas of design and security become more complex and diverse in light of different states, actors, technologies, and security objectives in the twenty-first century. It looks at how two different groups of security professionals are responding to this complexity. In particular, the chapter shows how two very different approaches to security and design are engaging with complex problems of global politics in a moment that some argue is a time of radical technological and geopolitical change. The first is the work of ‘critical design’, which focuses on our understanding of security in the broadest sense—encompassing all aspects of life, society, technology, ecology, and policy. The second is the ‘military design’ movement, focusing on questions of war in the twenty-first century.

This chapter introduces the concept of myth-making and global politics. It begins by explaining how myths about global politics disempower us because they rest on convention, established power relations, and particular interests that should be questioned. One way of overcoming limiting myths about global politics is to adopt a similar critical orientation towards the academic disciplines and theories we use to study global politics. These include the ‘traditional’ and ‘critical’ theories of International Relations, such as Liberalism, Realism, Constructivism, Marxism, Feminism, Postcolonial Theory, and Poststructuralism. The chapter then outlines specific myths and mysteries, before introducing the idea of ‘everyday global politics’. It also explores theoretical thinking, asks why students should be encouraged to theorise from the start of their studies, and why the myths upon which intuitive understandings of politics are based are a good place to start this theorising.

This chapter explores why the state is treated in International Relations (IR) as the most significant actor in global politics. It looks into interrelated myths that the state was founded by some divinely inspired social compact, and that today’s versions of sovereignty and anarchy are the only way to truly grasp the mechanics of global politics. These IR building blocks suggest that the locus of all power in global politics lies naturally and exclusively with the state. However, the chapter demonstrates that states are more often shaped and maintained by a myriad of power relations which operate beyond the remit of state authority. It also discusses the social contract theory variations of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

This chapter highlights the importance of critical thinking as a vital tool in bringing about change in global politics. It explains how critical thinking allows people to make informed and well-reasoned decisions in situations such as jobs, voting, and being either right or wrong. Voting and the Covid-19 pandemic are some examples of everyday experiences affected by global politics, power relations, and political relationships. The chapter also clarifies how myth often recounts historical events in terms of patterned signs, symbols, or meanings instead of narrating as factual chronology. Moreover, it introduces Nesrine Malik’s four tools for thinking differently in and about global politics, and Karen Armstrong’s analysis of mythology that could assist in imagining new and beneficial political ideas and arrangements.

This chapter discusses the meaning of politics and where it operates at the global level. Using a distinctive approach to theorising global politics, it explores the meaning of politics through everyday uses and understandings, considering ideas of coercion, authority, and legitimacy. The chapter also examines and challenges the myth that only powerful elites engage in politics, showing instead that politics is at work all the time in everyday lives and experience. It then looks at how influential thinkers define politics, studying the theories of political scientist Harold Lasswell and ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Finally, the chapter considers what it means to think theoretically about politics. Thinking critically and theoretically about politics is itself a political act that alters the everyday understanding of the world, and opens up new possibilities for action, challenging the myth that there is a natural way of organising politics.

This chapter explores power within global politics by challenging the myth that power is a coercive force that elite actors utilise to promote their interests. It also expounds on Steven Lukes’ ‘three faces of power’ debate to clarify how power works at both obvious and hidden levels. The chapter then introduces the concept of power relations and how they influence the political world and people’s opinions and values. It also discusses how power produces knowledge, social norms, and identities. Finally, the chapter uncovers some of the subtle ways power influences the everyday lives of people, and how an awareness of power relations raises the possibility of resistance and change in global politics.

This chapter discusses the correlation between ethics and global politics. It starts with a myth suggesting that power politics can be conducted without considering morality, especially following the rise of the modern state system. Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince (1532) has served as the ultimate guidebook for leaders and students of politics as it insinuates that European polities’ moral foundations might not be a proper basis for establishing well-run kingdoms and principalities. The chapter then looks at three key traditions of European Enlightenment thought which form the basis of much of the ethical and moral thinking we see at play in contemporary articulations of the good in political decision-making: deontology, utilitarianism, and contractualism. It also examines Confucianism, Ubuntu, and Sumak Kawsay to highlight the various ethical voices and traditions which have sustained political communities across the globe.

This chapter expounds on the pervasiveness of violence in global politics despite the rise of institutions and legal systems designed for its prevention. It lists three interrelated types of violence in global politics: physical, structural, and immanent. The chapter then turns to the question of justifying violence, exploring why people often assume in global politics that violence conducted by states is legitimate, while nonstate violence is illegitimate. It also examines nonviolence tactics in global politics, such as abandoning the fatalistic view that violence is inevitable in the field. Finally, the chapter studies the ideas of Jacques Derrida and Frantz Fanon which challenge the myth about violence in global politics. It also highlights the power of individuals and grassroots groups in reducing violence and challenging existing power relations.

This chapter offers an overview of the field of Global Political Economy (GPE)—also known as International Political Economy (IPE). It builds on themes introduced in previous chapters, including connections with theories of global politics. These are discussed from a historical perspective to enable a better appreciation of how ideas, practices, and institutions develop and interact over time. These theories arose substantially within a European context, although the extent to which these may be applied uncritically to issues of political economy in all parts of the globe must be questioned. Significant issues for GPE include trade, labour, the interaction of states and markets, the nexus between wealth and power, and the problems of development and underdevelopment in the global economy, taking particular account of the North–South gap. The chapter then discusses the twin phenomena of globalization and regionalization and the way in which these are shaping the global economy and challenging the traditional role of the state. An underlying theme of the chapter is the link between economic and political power.

This chapter studies how the scope of global politics has been extended over the last half century or so to include the impact of human industrial activity on the environment. The environmental movement and ‘green theory’ have grown out of concerns with the deleterious impact of this activity and the capacity of the planet to carry the burden of ‘business as usual’ in a world driven by the imperatives of endless growth. Many now believe that the impact on the earth’s systems is so significant that the present geological period should be recognized as the ‘Anthropocene’. Climate change is probably the most prominent issue associated with the Anthropocene at present, but it is not the only one. The chapter examines a range of issues in global environment politics, starting with the reconceptualization of the present period. It then moves on to an account of the environmental movement, the emergence of various ‘green’ ideologies and theories, and the politics of science. This is essential background for considering the role of the state and its sovereign powers in the context of global environmental politics.

This concluding chapter draws together some of the themes running throughout this book to address some key issues of justice and the future of global politics. In addition to outlining the concept of global justice, it deals with two contrasting normative approaches to issues in global politics, namely, cosmopolitanism and communitarianism, taking particular note of the debates that emerged in the post-Cold War period and which have been especially important for the analysis of human rights. The chapter looks at how these approaches map onto opposing strands of thought within the English school, namely, solidarism and pluralism. It then moves on to some specific issues in contemporary global politics involving the application of normative theory—citizenship, migration, and refugees. Finally, the chapter considers issues of intergenerational justice with respect to the normative links between past, present, and future and the responsibilities these entail.

This chapter examines traditional theories in global politics. Although much of the explicit theorizing about international politics did not begin until the twentieth century, both liberalism and realism have drawn on long-standing ideas in the history of political thought to address basic problems of international order. So too has the English School which, while encompassing aspects of both liberalism and realism, has focused much more attention on the social character of international or global relations, elaborating in particular the notion of international society and its normative underpinnings. While most theorizing has been carried out largely, but not exclusively, on the basis of Western philosophical ideas, a new Chinese school of moral realism draws from ancient Chinese thought. Ultimately, both liberalism and realism have been modified over the years with competing strands developing within them, so neither can be taken as a single body of theory.

This chapter investigates critical approaches to global politics. While liberal and realist theorists probe each other’s ideas for faults and weaknesses, neither have challenged capitalism and its implications for social, economic, and political order. Marxism, on the other hand, which developed around the mid-nineteenth century, has provided very different perspectives and presents a significant challenge for mainstream approaches to global order in both theory and practice. Post-Marxist Critical Theory, along with historical sociology and world-systems theory, emerged in the twentieth century, giving rise to schools of thought which continue the critique of capitalism and the social and political forces underpinning it. Meanwhile, ideas arising from social theory, such as the extent to which perceptions of reality are socially conditioned and indeed ‘constructed’, achieved greater prominence following the end of the Cold War, an event which prompted many scholars to start asking new questions about global politics and the assumptions on which traditional theories rested. Constructivism, postmodernism, and poststructuralism remain concerned with issues of power and justice but provide different lenses through which these issues may be viewed in the sphere of global politics.

This chapter evaluates new modes of theorizing in global politics. These are based on long-standing concerns in social and political theory and all of them involve identity politics in one way or another—a form of politics in which an individual’s membership of a group, based on certain distinctive characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexuality, acquires significant political salience and is implicated in hierarchies of power. It follows that identity itself involves issues of both who an individual is, and who that individual is not. This involves not just self-identification or self-definition, but is also mediated by the perceptions of others. In some cases there are connections with social movements concerned with issues of justice and equality in both domestic and global spheres. In almost all cases the specific issues of concern, and their theorization, have come relatively late to the agenda of global politics and so may be said to constitute a ‘new wave’ of theorizing in the discipline. The chapter looks at feminism, gender theory, racism, cultural theory, colonialism, and postcolonial theory.

This chapter assesses the general concept of security and the way in which issues come to be ‘securitized’. The security of the sovereign state, in a system of states, and existing under conditions of anarchy, has been the traditional focus of studies in global or international politics. Security in this context has therefore been concerned largely with the threats that states pose to each other. Over the last few decades, however, the agenda for security in global politics has expanded, and so too has its conceptualization. The chapter looks at traditional approaches to security and insecurity, revisiting the Hobbesian state of nature and tracing security thinking in global politics through to the end of the Cold War. This is followed by a discussion of ideas about collective security as embodied in the UN, paying particular attention to the role of the Security Council and the issue of intervention in the post-Cold War period. This period has also seen the broadening of the security agenda to encompass concerns such as gender security, environmental security, cyber security, and the diffuse concept of ‘human security’. Finally, the chapter provides an overview of the ‘war on terror’, raising further questions concerning how best to deal with non-conventional security threats.

This chapter addresses the nature of international organizations and how they are generally theorized as participants in global politics and then reviews the rise of international organizations from a historical perspective, with particular reference to developments from the nineteenth century onwards. It also discusses the major intergovernmental institutions that emerged in the twentieth century and which have played such an important role in shaping global order. The chapter briefly looks at the League of Nations but most attention is given to its successor, the United Nations (UN), and its various appendages. It then examines the world of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Some of these NGOs possess significant status in the global sphere, others have little relevance, and still others pose dangers. Finally, the chapter considers social movements and their relationship to the contemporary world of international organizations along with the idea of global civil society. In reviewing these institutions, actors, and ideas, we should keep in mind that liberal international theory, especially in the form of liberal institutionalism, as well as proponents of international society, regard robust international organizations as essential building blocks of global order.