As one of the most innovative and influential thinkers in international relations for more than three decades, Robert O. Keohane's groundbreaking work in institutional theory has redefined our understanding of international political economy.

Consisting of a selection of his most recent essays, this absorbing book address such core issues as interdependence, institutions, the development of international law, globalization and global governance. The essays are placed in historical and intellectual context by a substantial new introduction outlining the developments in Keohane's thought, and in an original afterword, the author offers a challenging interpretation of the September 11th attacks and their aftermath. Undoubtedly, this book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in international relations.

1. Introduction: From interdependence and institutions to globalization and governance Part 1: Interdependence and Institutions 2. International Institutions: Can interdependence work? 3. International Liberalism Reconsidered 4. Hobbe's Dilemma and Institutional Change in World Politics: Sovereignty in international society 5. Risk, Threat and Security Institutions Part 2: Law 6. International Relations and International Law: Two optics 7. The Concept of Legalization 8. Legalized Dispute Resolution: Interstate and transnational Part 3: Globalism, Liberalism and Governance 9. Governance in a Globalizing World 10. The Club Model of Multilateral Cooperation and Problems of Democratic Legitimacy 11. Governance in a Partially Globalized World 12. Afterword: The globalization of informal violence, theories of world politics and the 'liberalism of fear'

Robert O. Keohane is Professor of International Relations at Duke University. He has also taught at Stanford and Harvard. His recent publications include After the Cold War (Harvard University Press: 1993) and Internationalization and Domestic Politics (Cambridge University Press: 1996)