Extra Time
World Politics Since 1989

The end of 20th century history poses a challenge to traditional frameworks of political analysis. The most frequent response has been general theories of globalization. "Extra Time" offers an alternative route, analysing the historical situation of various nation states.

The end of - at any rate, twentieth-century - history poses a challenge to traditional frameworks of political analysis. The most frequent response has been general theories of globalization, which present a newly unified world, differentiated at most by region or major power. Extra Time offers an alternative route, a sampling of the historical situations of a range of nation-states, and attempts to move beyond them. Its first section analyses the recent politics of the three leading continental nations - Germany, France and Italy; the origins and outcomes of the Union they largely created; and the contrasting character of democracy in the United States. The second section moves to four key states outside the Atlantic zone: Russia, Israel, China and Brazil. The final part of the book looks at a range of movements and issues that cross national boundaries, setting agendas of wider scope: the fate of social democracy, the fortunes of regionalism and internationalism, the dynamics of neo-liberalism, terrorism and multi-culturalism. A conclusion reviews the condition of the left in the contemporary world.