What can we say about the shape of things to come in world politics, the probability of different possibilities, and the reflexivity of our anticipations? Building on post-Keynesian economic theory and classical theories of imperialism, the book discusses anticipations that neoliberalism will push the world into a new era of insecurity, confrontations, armaments, and wars.

Part I of this volume delves into the acute geopolitical landscape, especially the war in Ukraine. Through the analysis of the lessons from the OSCE process, the focus moves to political economy. Part II “Political Economy” focuses on the dynamics of the world political economy and concludes with discussions on connections between economic and normative theory. Part III concerns global political theory, ending with a cosmopolitan vision of the university’s future. The volume also investigates partial failures of and limits to anticipating the future in open systems. Normative assessments and priorities have also changed in some respects with the world-historical context. The comprehensive introduction addresses the question “what can we learn from all this, and how do these lessons help us anticipate the future better?”.

This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and researchers of International Relations, International Political Economy, Economic History, Development Studies, and Futures Studies. The chapters in this book, except for chapters 3 and 6, were originally published in Globalizations. This volume comes with a new introduction.