Much has been written about the many economic benefits of globalization and the triumph and spread of democratic liberalism with the end of the Cold War, following the demise of the Soviet Union.

This work takes issue with such "wine and roses" perspectives about the future of the Western democracies and their faith-based views on the moral purity of a globalized marketplace. It also questions many of the assumptions found in the status quo reinforcing discipline of international political economy (IPE)—a discipline that focuses on the formal and legitimate economies and the façade they present that international relations and commerce is still dominated and dictated solely by the old Westphalian state centric system.

Having highlighted these concerns, this book looks at two major themes. The first theme focuses on the theoretical perception that a "Dark Renaissance" is taking place globally—one in which the Western liberal democracies and its citizens are ill prepared to respond because it exists at the trans-civilization level, bridging the modern to the post-modern world. The second theme focuses on the actual process of state deconstruction that is taking place. This process is leading to what may become the very undoing of the democracies.

Drawing together experts from a variety of backgrounds, this work explores the increasing shift away from formal based capitalism and evaluates through case studies how different states are responding to the challenges they face. This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of international political economy.