This book provides a comprehensive introduction to international political economy and to the different trade and financial issues in the contemporary international system. The modern international political economy is characterized by globalization of production and finance. This book explains the growth and consequences of globalization from a historical and evolutionary perspective. It explores not only the long-standing issues of trade protectionism and financial stability, but also the newer issues of international labor standards, liberalization of investment regulations, and environmental protection. One of the greatest challenges of financial globalization is the potential for destabilizing national economies through a rapid outflow of capital, as seen recently in East Asia. In this book, the East Asian currency and debt crises are examined in relation to earlier crises in Latin America in the early 1980s and in Mexico in the mid-1990s. It will help readers to understand how politics and economics interact to produce the rules and structures of international political economy, and also to better appreciate the contemporary issues, crises, and challenges in international political economy.