What is international political economy -- "Laissez-Faire": the economic liberal perspective -- Wealth and power: the Mercantilist perspective -- Economic determinism and exploitation: the structuralist perspective -- Alternative perspectives on international political economy -- The production and trade structure -- The international monetary and finance structure -- International debt and financial crises -- The global security structure -- The knowledge and technology structure -- The development conundrum: choices amidst constraints -- Regionalism: towards a more perfect (European) Union -- Moving into position: the rising powers -- The Middle East: the quest for the development and democracy -- The illicit global economy : the dark side of globalization -- Transnational corporations : the governance of foreign investment -- Food and hunger: market failure and injustice -- Oil and energy: dependency and resource curse -- The environment: steering away from global disaster.