Table of Contents

Part I. Theoretical Foundations: 1. The declining authority of the state; 2. Patterns of power; 3. The limits of politics; 4. Politics and production; 5. The state of the state; Part II. Some Empirical Evidence: 6. Authority beyond the state; 7. Telecoms - the control of communication; 8. Organised crime - the Mafias; 9. Insurance business - the risk managers; 10. The Big Six accountants; 11. Cartels and private protectionism; 12. International organisations - the econocrats; Part III. Conclusions: 13. Pinocchio's problem and other conclusions.

Promotional Information

This original study asks who is really in charge of the world economy.

Reviews

'Susan Strange's latest work, The Retreat of the State, goes a long way to breaking the bounds of traditional analyses of the international political economy. Instead of concentrating on well-covered ground involving trade relations and balances between states … the book takes a much broader look at the functions of the world economy and the diffusion of authority within it to legitimately perform those functions.' The Review of Politics