The world turned upside down? interrogates the widespread claim that contemporary globalization has ended the centrality of the state in world affairs and is effectively irreversible.
It offers discriminating definitions of globalization, internationalization and international interdependence and demonstrates the analytical and empirical difficulties generated by these concepts.

Developments at the end of the twentieth century are compared with those of earlier eras, particularly the end of the nineteenth and start of the twentieth centuries. The book also surveys the historical role of the state and its enduring importance for human well-being. A central focus of the book is the challenge posed by contemporary developments to the role and capacity of the modern state and the consequences should such challenges prove to be overwhelming.