Introduction

More than 15 years have passed since the end of the Cold War, but uncertainty persists in the political-economic shaping of the world economy and state system. In response to the uncertainty, some scholars and public spokespersons have advocated neoliberalism as a global policy idea in the hope of ensuring predictability and unity in the world through the primacy of market forces (Soros 2000). Although many countries have institutionalized neoliberal policies since the mid-1970s, these policies have not taken hold to the same degree, nor have their effects been uniform across all countries (Brady et al. 2005). Nevertheless, there has been widespread deepening of inequalities, and, therefore, scepticism towards the neoliberal project. Neoliberalism has clearly not succeeded in unifying the world around market capitalism, and insecurity continues to characterize the world we live in. This is especially evident in the context of wars waged in Iraq and Afghanistan after the events of September 11, 2001. Uncertainty prevails not only in the relations between states, but also in the relations between forces of capital, citizens, and political power within states. Moreover, there is conceptual confusion in our understanding of the events and processes of neoliberal global transformation, even though social theorists remain deeply committed to producing a general account of neoliberalism.