Review by Choice Review
This outstanding contribution to international relations theory challenges the general acceptance of the idea that political communities tend to resemble one another, revolving around the Western Westphalian system. Rather Phillips (Univ. of Queensland, Australia) and Sharman (Griffith Univ., Australia) argue, with extensive support, that numerous political forms reflecting diversity have appeared in non-Western regions of the world. The authors focus on the Indian Ocean region from 1500 to the contemporary period and look at the Portuguese Estado da Índia, the Mughal Empire, the Dutch East India Company, and the English East India Company, covering European trade patterns and establishing patterns of control and competition. The authors argue persuasively that the diverse nature of political communities led to a structured order, an early example of globalization that challenges the Eurocentric approach many international relations theorists have focused upon. The authors point out that diverse political units are the norm, unlike a homogeneous universal system, and call for reevaluating the basis of Western imperialism, looking at the institutional means by which European powers established their presence in South Asia and the Far East. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
