Books in the Global Futures series

After the most serious economic crash since the 1930s and the slowest recovery on record, austerity rules. Spending on the welfare state did not cause the crisis, but deep cuts in welfare budgets has become the default policy response.

China's spectacular growth and expanding global role have led to visions of the 21st century being dominated by the last major state on earth ruled by a Communist Party. In this new edition of his widely acclaimed book, renowned China expert Jonathan Fenby shows why such assumptions are wrong.

New York, Washington, Madrid, London and now Paris D the list of Western cities targeted by radical Islamic terrorists waging global jihad continues to grow.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, there has been much talk of a new Cold War between the West and Russia. Under Putin s authoritarian leadership, Moscow is widely seen as volatile, belligerent and bent on using military force to get its way.

"For more than a century, the United States has been the world s most powerful state. Now some analysts predict that China will soon take its place.

In the past decade, the developed world has spent almost US$ 2 trillion on foreign aid for poorer countries. Yet 1. 2 billion people still live in extreme poverty and around 2. 9 billion cannot meet their basic human needs.

* The first book in Polity s exciting new Global Futures series, which focuses on the key questions set to determine the kind of world we re shaping for generations to come. * This short, punchy book makes a bold and compelling case for the continuation of war through the 21st century and beyond.

The Middle East has long been fraught with tension and volatility. However, the recent Arab uprisings have intensified instability, turning this 'hot-spot' into a veritable tinderbox whose potential for implosion has far-reaching regional and global consequences.

The European Union is in crisis. Crippled by economic problems, political brinkmanship, and institutional rigidity, the EU faces an increasingly uncertain future.

The Global Financial Crisis overturned decades of received wisdom on how financial markets work, and how best to keep them in check. Since then a wave of reform and re-regulation has crashed over banks and markets. Financial firms are regulated as never before.