Globalization, Rodrik argues, rests on shaky foundations. Despite the benefits it has brought to much of the world, there are profound conflicts of interest between democracy, national determination, and full economic globalization. He traces the idea's history, pinpoints its weaknesses, and points the way forward to a new 'smart globalization'
Simply the best recent treatment of the globalization dilemma. . . he gives us nothing less than a general theory of globalization, development, democracy, and the state. The book provides the pleasure of following a thoughtful, critical mind working through a complex puzzle. Rodrik writes in highly friendly and nontechnical prose, blending a wide-ranging knowledge of economic history and politics and a gentle, occasionally incredulous, skepticism about the narrow and distorting lens of his fellow economists