Globalization, Democracy and Capitalism in the 21st Century
Nayantara Shaunik
TOWARD A GEOPOLITICS OF HOPE William H. Thornton and Songok Han Thornton Sage Publications, 2013, 276 pp., £39.99
June 2013, volume 37, No 6

At first glance, one cannot help but overlook the idiom ‘never judge a book by its cover’, and, quite rightly so. If the title of Toward a Geopolitics of Hope intrigues, the provocative stance and ideas presented throughout the tome do not fail to deliver either. Introducing a theoretical framework of ‘moral realism’ to address a world increasingly mired by the threat of a ‘New Cold War’ where values will primarily define conflicts, alliances, and geopolitical interests; the authors of Toward a Geopolitics of Hope conclude that this rationale is the critical way forward. The authors, both professors of global and cultural studies at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, substantiate their argument in a chapter-by-chapter analysis of momentous developments pertaining to Russia, China, Tibet, India, Burma/Myanmar, and the Arab world post 1991, the implications of which will probably define the future course of global politics. Steeping their reasoning of these contemporary issues in a historical and theoretical context, the duo develop intricate connections within their ‘post-globalist’ assessment, which is hard-hitting and extremely topical, if not largely accurate.

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