ИПИ Библиотека

Tomas Larsson tells the real story of globalization, which is the story of the expansion of individual liberty and personal responsibility. How much support would 'anti-dumping' legislation get if it were called, as it should be, anti-shopping legislation?' - P J O'Rourke, Author The CEO of the Sofa

Tomas Larsson’s The Race to the Top is a functional text for consumers seeking a primer defining the basic jargon of the globalization debate, but readers must be cautious to supplement Larsson's bold claims in this book with additional materials from more objective sources. Larsson demonstrates his underlying motives in generating this text, and these motives explain his reluctance to grapple with the contentious underlying issues of globalization. As a result, provides readers with a narrow, oversimplified view of the emerging globalized world. He has, however, crafted an entertaining book that at times resembles a winding, uncharted journey to the core of globalization. He utilizes interesting, illustrative, but highly specific anecdotes that explore globalization’s impact on individual communities, companies or entrepreneurs to prove his point. Larsson demonstrates his thorough understanding of economics and trade principles, but too readily rejects any restraints on unfettered trade, and even implies that regulatory measures enacted under the current multilateral trade regimes should simply be dismantled. To make these bold assertions, Larsson requires stronger statistical support in The Race to the Top, because his anecdotal support is oftentimes more poignant on a personal level than on point for an analytical discussion of an exceedingly complex issue. - Kevin Klingbeil.

Tomas Larsson

Dr Tomas Larsson is a Fellow of St John’s College and Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies. He received his PhD from Cornell University in 2007. Prior to his academic career, Dr Larsson worked as a freelance journalist in Asia for many years. He teaches courses on Southeast Asian Politics and on State Formation and Development, and he provides supervision for undergraduate students taking empirically oriented papers in politics and international relations. He also supervises MPhil and PhD students conducting research on topics related to Southeast Asian political, economic, and cultural change.

Dr Larsson’s research mainly focuses on the historical and political foundations of institutional and economic development in Southeast Asia in general and in Thailand in particular. He is the author of Land and loyalty: Security and the development of property rights in Thailand (Cornell University Press, 2012) and he is currently working on a book that is tentatively entitled Securing the Golden Triangle: International relations and the rise and fall of opium production in Southeast Asia.

Key Publications

• Land and loyalty: Security and the development of property rights in Thailand. Ithaca: Cornell University Press (2012).
• The race to the top: The real story of globalization. Washington, DC: Cato Institute (2001).

Articles and book chapters

 “The rise of the organic foods movement as a transnational phenomenon.” Forthcoming in Oxford handbook on food, politics, and society, edited by Ronald Herring (Oxford University Press).

"The strong and the weak: Ups and downs of state capacity in Southeast Asia." Asian Politics and Policy 5, 3 (2013), pp. 337-358.

Land and loyalty: Security and the development of property rights in Thailand (Cornell University Press, 2012).

“Western imperialism and defensive underdevelopment of property rights institutions in Siam.” Journal of East Asian Studies. 8, 1 (2008), pp. 1-28.

“Intertextual relations: The geopolitics of land rights in Thailand.” Political Geography 26, 7 (2007), pp. 775-803.