Introduction: situating globalization

How has economic 'globalization' been conceptualized and what are its impli cations for the nature of the international economy? These are the issues a ddressed in this introductory article. Several definitions of globalization are raised and discussed. The implications of the idea of globalization ar e then assessed particularly in terms of the possibilities for the governan ce of the international system. It is suggested that there is still a need for governance and that the opportunities to further this remain. The degre e of integration of the international economy as suggested by the globaliza tion thesis is judged exaggerated leading to an underestimation of the poss ibilities of regulation. The importance and role of the Triad (the USA, the European Union and Japan) is stressed in the context of a continued commit ment to a minimal multilateralism amongst the main players in the system. F inally, the possible future course for the international economy is explore d.