Sunday, December 27, 2009

"Hyperconflict"

New from Stanford University Press: Hyperconflict: Globalization and Insecurity by James H. Mittelman.

About the book, from the publisher:
This book addresses two questions that are central to the maintenance of stability in the international system in the twenty-first century: does globalization promote security or fuel insecurity? And what are the implications for world order?

Coming to grips with these matters effectively requires building a bridge between the geoeconomics and geopolitics of globalization, one that extends to the geostrategic realm. Not surprisingly, few analysts have sought to span this gulf.

Filling the void, Mittelman identifies systemic drivers of global security and insecurity and demonstrates how the intense interaction between them heightens insecurity at a world level. The emergent condition he labels hyperconflict—a state characterized by a reorganization of political violence, a growing climate of fear, and increasing instability at a world level. Ultimately, his analysis of these drivers and their interaction provides the basis for projections for future world order, offering an "early warning" to enable prevention of a gathering storm of hyperconflict, and the establishment of enduring peace.