Is globalization being eclipsed by a resurgent geopolitics? Does the war on terror denote the end of globalization or a new phase of militarized globalization? Empire or globalization, which better describes the current global condition? The second edition of this successful book tests the claims of those who dismiss the continuing significance of globalization through a comprehensive assessment of contemporary global trends. In the aftermath of September 11th, and the war in Iraq, there has been much talk of the end of globalization. Held and McGrew argue that these post-mortems for globalization are entirely premature. They focus upon the primary structures of world order namely: patterns of governance, organized violence, and cultural, ecological and economic exchange with particular emphasis given to global patterns of inequality, exclusion and domination. Building upon this analysis, the authors present the case for continuing to take globalization seriously as both a description and explanation of our current global condition. Globalization continues to provoke intense controversy and conflict as it resurrects, albeit in a new context, one of the fundamental questions of political life namely: who rules, in whose interests, to what ends, and by what means? They also ask the vital question: can globalization be tamed? Moreover, they explore whether a more just and stable world order is either desirable or feasible and present an alternative ethical and political agenda for the twenty-first century - a global covenant of cosmopolitan social democracy. This illuminating book will appeal to all those who remain intrigued, confused or simply baffled by thecontroversy about globalization and its consequences for the twenty first century world order.