James L. Richardson is emeritus professor of international relations at the Australian National University. His many publications include Crisis Diplomacy: The Great Powers Since the Mid-Nineteenth Century and (coedited with Richard Leaver) The Post–Cold War Order: Diagnoses and Prognoses.

This wide-ranging critique of current endeavors to construct a world order based on neoliberal ideology comes not from a standpoint opposed to liberalism, but from within liberalism itself. After introducing the theme of contending liberalisms, Richardson traces the emergence over time of a distinctive liberal view of international relations and reviews the present state of liberal JR theory. He then turns to neoliberal ideology, examining it in detail - particularly in the context of globalization - and investigating the powerful forces that support and sustain it. His conclusion, offering modest grounds for optimism, assesses the prospects for an alternative, more equitable liberal order.

"We owe a debt of gratitude to James Richardson ... for reminding us that liberalism is much more than Wilsonian idealism or globalist neoliberalism.... An elegantly written and well-conceived study."—Philip Nel, Australian Journal of International Studies

"This book is a useful introduction (and antidote) to the depressing power and prestige of neoliberal ideology, its origins, sources, power bases and outcomes. Richardson provides a stinging, forceful and convincing assault on the bastions of this modern orthodoxy.... enlightening reading."——Duncan S. A. Bell, Millennium

"An accessible, important, and consistently thought-provoking book on contemporary liberalism in international relations. Professor Richardson's devastating critique of global neoliberalism identifies the powerful forces in the current international order—and argues that a radical alternative for social justice and inclusiveness can be found within a wider understanding of liberalism."—David Long