Overview

The essays in this collection boldly confront the quest for security arising from the social, economic, environmental, and political crises and transformations of our century. Joseph E. Stiglitz and Mary Kaldor begin with an expansive, balanced analysis of the global landscape and the factors contributing to the growth of insecurity. Whereas earlier studies have touched on how globalization has increased economic insecurity and how geopolitical changes may have contributed to military insecurity, this volume looks for some common threads: in a globalized world without a global government, with a system of global governance not up to the task, how do we achieve security without looking inward and stepping back from globalization? In each of their areas of expertise, contributors seek answers to questions about how we achieve protection of those people who are most insecure without resorting to economic, military, or mafia protectionism. Some have suggested that the turmoil in the Eurozone proves the deficiencies in the welfare state. This book argues that the superior performance of Scandinavian countries arises from their superior systems of social protection, which allow their citizens to undertake greater risk and more actively participate in globalization. Some suggest that we can address terrorism or transnational crimes through the strengthening of borders or long-distance wars. This book develops the proposition that such approaches have the opposite effect and that only through spreading the human security experienced in well-ordered societies can these dangers be managed. This book also examines how these global changes play out, not only in the relations among countries and the management of globalization, but at every level of our society, especially in our cities. It explores the potential for cities to ensure personal security, promote political participation, and protect the environment in the face of increasing urbanization.

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Reviews

The Quest for Security makes for a fascinating read, made all the more timely by the current outcry -- across the country and beyond -- over the unequal distribution of the pains and gains from the economic changes of recent years. The book examines globalization as the multidimensional phenomenon that it is, without complexifying it to the point where the key issues become obscured. It is an important book that offers both an introduction to key issues in global governance to a general audience and advances the debate among expert scholars and policymakers with serious, constructive proposals for making economic globalization politically sustainable by improving average citizens' economic, physical, and environmental security. -- Tim Buthe, Duke University This book takes the many and varied challenges facing the world, from the financial crisis to global warming, and explores how new forms of governance and cooperation can be developed to solve some of them or at least mitigate their effects. This book is original and pathbreaking, and its contributors are at the forefront of thinking about these questions. -- Andrew Gamble, Cambridge University

Author Information

Joseph E. Stiglitz is a professor and cochair of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University and former chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. His books include Making Globalization Work; Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy; and The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. Mary Kaldor is professor of global governance and director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit at the London School of Economics. She is the author of many books, including The Ultimate Weapon is No Weapon: Human Security and the Changing Rules of War and Peace; New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era; and Global Civil Society: An Answer to War. Professor Kaldor was a founding member of European Nuclear Disarmament and of the Helsinki Citizen's Assembly. She is also convener of the Human Security Study Group, which reported to Javier Solana.

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