The Rise of State Capital

Transforming Markets and International Politics

By (author) Dr. Milan Babic

Publication date:

02 March 2023

Publisher

Agenda Publishing

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781788215725

The past two decades have seen a rapid rise in large-scale, state-led transnational investment from countries as different as China, Norway and Russia. By bundling economic resources, these countries have entered global markets through massive state-led investments. This transformation of states into global economic actors is historically unprecedented and presents a major challenge for how states relate to each other in the international system.

Milan Babic examines how states have become major corporate owners in the global economy and unpacks the lasting effects of this on our understanding of the state and international politics. Drawing on research into the largest firm-level dataset on state ownership to date, in combination with in-depth historical and conceptual analysis, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of the rise of the state in the global economy and its present and future consequences for international relations.

Foreword by Erik Jones

1. Introduction: states and markets are different things – or are they?

2. A short history of the re-emergence of state capital(ism)

3. Transnational state capital in the global political economy

4. Strategies of the competing state: controlling strategies

5. Strategies of the competing state: financial strategies

6. Consequences: Covid-19, geoeconomics, climate change

7. Conclusion: states, markets and the future of globalization

This is a truly fascinating book. It is conceptually innovative. One of its strengths is that it draws on an eclectic body of scholarship, rather than being wedded to any particular school in international political economy (IPE). This makes for a fresh and inspiring read. It is built on innovative operationalization and measurement of developments in the global economy and exploits a wealth of comprehensive data. Last, but not least, the book does not shy away from asking the big questions of our times and providing a framework for how to think about them.