Italy is currently the democratic world’s most underestimated European ally.  Many commentators seem to have forgotten that despite its notorious institutional and debt problems the country remains one of the richest and most technologically innovative Western nations. While its politics are often theatric and superficial, its labour market inflexible and its bureaucracy opaque, Italy’s real economic basis remains one of the strongest in the world. The continuing paradoxy of systemic failure and coeval structural productivity characteristic for modern Italy originates in the very foundation process of the nation in the 1860s. It is thus deeply rooted in the socio-political culture and is not likely to change anytime soon. However, these challenges might be viewed as good news in times of crisis: Unlike other Western democracies, Italy’s economy and civil society are accustomed to functioning amid enduring institutional and political obstacles and crises. Disregarding alarmist voices, the country’s outlook remains positive after all: Its systemic weakness is balanced by structural strength. In order to assess the situation of countries more properly in the future, we need a more sophisticated system of indicators that takes into account a greater, more complex picture; and this presupposes a more diverse and multi-polar system of rating agencies.

Shorenstein APARC's center overviews provide detailed information about Shorenstein APARC's mission, history, faculty, financial support, organizational structure, projects, and programs.

The four-volume Encyclopedia of Global Studies covers the field of global studies and subjects related to it, such as globalization, transnational activity and themes of global society. This encyclopedia is written for the educated general reader as well as students and professionals working in the field of global studies. It is the first encyclopedia of its kind, and aims to become the internationally-recognized reference work for academics, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the various dimensions of globalization. It provides succinct summaries of concepts and theories, definitions of terms, biographical entries, and organizational profiles; offers a guide to sources of information; and establishes an overview of Global Studies in different parts of the world and across cultures and historical periods.  The wide range of subjects covered include the following:
            - intellectual approaches, such as global sociology, political economy, world systems theory, peace and conflict studies, and communications;
            - global and transnational topics, such as cross-border conflicts and terrorism, worldwide health crises and climate disruption, the planetary immigration patterns and new cultural diasporas, and the seemingly boundless global market, rapid communications, and transnational cyberspaces devised by technology and new media.

The four-volume Encyclopedia of Global Studies covers the field of global studies and subjects related to it, such as globalization, transnational activity and themes of global society. This encyclopedia is written for the educated general reader as well as students and professionals working in the field of global studies. It is the first encyclopedia of its kind, and aims to become the internationally-recognized reference work for academics, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the various dimensions of globalization. It provides succinct summaries of concepts and theories, definitions of terms, biographical entries, and organizational profiles; offers a guide to sources of information; and establishes an overview of Global Studies in different parts of the world and across cultures and historical periods.  The wide range of subjects covered include the following:
            - intellectual approaches, such as global sociology, political economy, world systems theory, peace and conflict studies, and communications;
            - global and transnational topics, such as cross-border conflicts and terrorism, worldwide health crises and climate disruption, the planetary immigration patterns and new cultural diasporas, and the seemingly boundless global market, rapid communications, and transnational cyberspaces devised by technology and new media.

The four-volume Encyclopedia of Global Studies covers the field of global studies and subjects related to it, such as globalization, transnational activity and themes of global society. This encyclopedia is written for the educated general reader as well as students and professionals working in the field of global studies. It is the first encyclopedia of its kind, and aims to become the internationally-recognized reference work for academics, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the various dimensions of globalization. It provides succinct summaries of concepts and theories, definitions of terms, biographical entries, and organizational profiles; offers a guide to sources of information; and establishes an overview of Global Studies in different parts of the world and across cultures and historical periods.  The wide range of subjects covered include the following:
            - intellectual approaches, such as global sociology, political economy, world systems theory, peace and conflict studies, and communications;
            - global and transnational topics, such as cross-border conflicts and terrorism, worldwide health crises and climate disruption, the planetary immigration patterns and new cultural diasporas, and the seemingly boundless global market, rapid communications, and transnational cyberspaces devised by technology and new media.

The four-volume Encyclopedia of Global Studies covers the field of global studies and subjects related to it, such as globalization, transnational activity and themes of global society. This encyclopedia is written for the educated general reader as well as students and professionals working in the field of global studies. It is the first encyclopedia of its kind, and aims to become the internationally-recognized reference work for academics, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the various dimensions of globalization. It provides succinct summaries of concepts and theories, definitions of terms, biographical entries, and organizational profiles; offers a guide to sources of information; and establishes an overview of Global Studies in different parts of the world and across cultures and historical periods.  The wide range of subjects covered include the following:
            - intellectual approaches, such as global sociology, political economy, world systems theory, peace and conflict studies, and communications;
            - global and transnational topics, such as cross-border conflicts and terrorism, worldwide health crises and climate disruption, the planetary immigration patterns and new cultural diasporas, and the seemingly boundless global market, rapid communications, and transnational cyberspaces devised by technology and new media.

Why should Americans worry about South Korean security? The answer is clear: North Korea, and beyond. Most international attention to the North Korea problem has focused on U.S. policy, but South Korea's longterm role may in fact be more important. South Korea's security is vital to peace and stability, not only in Northeast Asia but also the wider world.

Written by eminent scholars, practitioners, and policymakers with extensive on-the-ground experience, Beyond North Korea assesses the varied contexts—regional and global, traditional and nontraditional—that underpin South Korea's varied security challenges. What are South Korea's military requirements? How do relations with its neighbors enhance or undermine its position? What economic, environmental, and demographic factors come into play? This book reveals that South Korea's national security rests as much on sound domestic policy choices as on successful interstate relations. 

Desk, examination, or review copies can be requested through Stanford University Press.

Beyond North Korea is the first in a new series of policy-related studies on contemporary South Korea sponsored by the Koret Foundation of San Francisco.

This article sketches the outlines of a contemporary inter- and transdisciplinary methodology to understand the current global change. It gives a short overview over the seven-fold approach of the author called “System Action Theory”, which tries to integrate the typological discourses and systemic order patterns of politics, economics, culture, religion, technology and demography. According to the author, the “global systemic shift” is nevertheless not reducable to the sum of these six dimensions, but is “more than the sum of its parts” and thus a seventh dimension which has to be understood through its inbuilt dialectics, conflicts and (productive) contradictions. Because most relevant problems in the globalized world get multidimensional, plurifaceted and ambiguous, no single discipline will be able to achieve a sound, complex-adequate analysis anymore. Instead, an inter- and transdisciplinary stance will always be more necessary.