A New World Order

"One of the most important issues the world must deal with today is how sovereign countries can join together to make globalization work for everyone--not just the privileged. I believe that one way we can start to achieve this is by strengthening the Finance Ministers' G-20, and perhaps advancing a similar concept to the Leaders' level. In October 2003, I met with Anne-Marie Slaughter at a meeting organized by The Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario, where we discussed this concept in great detail. At the roundtable, Ms. Slaughter presented a number of original and innovative ways to bolster the G-20. I was impressed--her ideas were a fresh approach on how the world should govern itself. I believe that it will be her type of intellectual rigour and ingenuity that will bring to fruition new ways to manage our interdependence. Ms. Slaughter's work in global governance is highly regarded amongst international development thinkers and doers. This book, reflecting years of research and experience, is both interesting and timely. As you read, think deeply about the proposed ideas, and how we can use multilateralism to solve issues that single nations cannot solve alone. Greater human understanding is crucial in order to solve complex international problems. Ms. Slaughter has proven to have a clear grasp on how to improve the situation. I urge you to read on."--Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada

"A brilliant analysis of global networks emerging as if guided by an invisible hand. A 'must read' for anyone puzzling over issues of governance on a world scale, Anne-Marie Slaughter's book illustrates important trends that, whether you like them or not, will make you think hard and long."--George P. Shultz, former Secretary of State

"Anne-Marie Slaughter is a visionary, and A New World Order is her manifesto. Even those who have long studied international relations will see the world differently after reading this book."--Robert O. Keohane, James B. Duke Professor of Political Science, Duke University, author of After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy

"Just when we thought America's postwar multilateralism had run out of steam, along comes this splendid book to offer a cornucopia of prescient forward-thinking about the new ties that bind us to the world."--Thomas M. Franck, New York University School of Law

"Global interdependence requires governance, but we properly fear global government. Anne-Marie Slaughter suggests an innovative solution to the dilemma. Her intelligent and highly readable book describes how global governance can occur through government networks that harness national government officials to address international problems. This book is a major contribution to an important debate."--Joseph S. Nye, Jr., author of The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone

"In today's world one sees global networks everywhere, from capital markets to illegal drugs to terrorism. Now government is also going global, writes Anne-Marie Slaughter in this important and original work. Slaughter persuasively documents the rise of an organic international order based not on grand theories of world government but rather day-to-day contacts and communications among governments. She presents a vision of global governance that is practical and yet could have profound normative implications. Going well beyond the traditional confines of international law and international relations, this book will be discussed in both fields for years to come."--Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International

"In this very ambitious, unique, and clearly written book, Anne-Marie Slaughter not only turns her focus to relatively uncharted territory but she does so with a very systematic and thoughtful analysis of not just what is going on, but why it is going on, and where it is likely to go in the future. No other book does this."--Sean D. Murphy, author of Humanitarian Intervention: The United Nations in an Evolving World Order

"This long-anticipated book represents the accumulation of more than a decade of insights by Anne-Marie Slaughter on the disaggregation of the state and the decentralization of diplomacy, the growing links across national boundaries of functionally specialized state officials, and new crossnational networks to fulfill the tasks of global governance."--Lori F. Damrosch, Columbia University, author of International Law Cases and Materials

Publishers Weekly

Breaking new ground in international relations theory, Slaughter urges readers to lose their "conceptual blind spot" and see how the world really works. Scholars, pundits and policymakers, she writes, have traditionally seen nations as "unitary"-that is, as single entities that "articulate and pursue a single national interest." In fact, she says, we would do better to focus on government networks, both horizontal and vertical. Horizontal networks link counterpart national officials across borders, such as police investigators or financial regulators. Vertical networks are relationships between a nation's officials and some supranational organization to which they have ceded authority, such as the European Court of Justice. Networks, she says, are the solution to the "globalization paradox": The world needs global governance to combat problems that jump borders, like crime and environmental degradation, and yet most people fear-rightly, Slaughter implies-the idea of a centralized, all-powerful world government. The book both describes the here and now and plots a course for the future: Strengthening existing networks and developing new ones "could create a genuine global rule of law without centralized global institutions." The author, who is the dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton as well as president of the American Society of International Law, is steeped in these issues and offers genuinely original thinking. Written in dense academic language, this book will not pick up many casual readers, but it will likely attain instant textbook status and generate much discussion about foreign policy and whether, as Slaughter believes, the U.S. should welcome such networks in a globalized world. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Anne-Marie Slaughter is Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations.