The matter of globalization and state retreat has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. A phase of globalist europhoria or alarm, depending on the writer's political tendency, was followed by a series of works debunking the idea as ‘globalony’ and assuring us that the nation-state was alive and well. This book belongs to a third wave of writing that seriously tries to understand and measure the changes that states are experiencing, without committing itself in advance to sensationalist conclusions. The chapters come in four sections, on national identities, state security, state autonomy and state capacity. They are generally empirically grounded, historically informed and balanced in their conclusions. Some are broad comparative reviews and others are case studies, but all of them deploy theoretical arguments capable of wider application and testing.

Bernard Yack examines debates on national, popular sovereignty and the liberal state. The analysis is rather conventional, showing how nationalism is based on a contradiction by making the founding assumption that it is committed to an exclusive view of undivided sovereignty. He makes some good points but only takes us into the thicket, neglecting the new literature on nationalism that might have helped him get out the other side. A starting point could be the experience of the United Kingdom, which Yack tends to confuse with England.

Brendan O'Leary makes the contentious point that multinational states can survive only if there is a dominant Staatsvolk. The argument, however, rests of the assumption that we know what the volk actually is. Indeed he claims that “it is relatively easy to gain knowledge about … the salience” of “race, language and common religion.” This allows us to read off the structure of ethnic groups, which he then tacitly elides into national groups. Admitting that Canadian Anglophones might be too heterogeneous for a Staatsvolk, he proposes as the ethnic core ‘those of Irish and British descent’. Readers of O'Leary's work on Ireland will be intrigued to discover that the Irish and British are now one ethnic group! If the argument is that they are so in the Canadian context, then the essentially contextual nature of ethnicity must be admitted, in which case the whole notion of a stable, core Staatsvolk becomes extremely problematic.

Anatony Khazanov looks at Russian nationalism. While conceding that ethnic and civic nationalisms are only ideal types, he discerns a predominance in Russia of the former. The weakness of a civic national identity allows ethnic entrepreneurs and extremists scope to expand their influence. Peter Baldwin's chapter is an eclectic collection of interesting facts about social control in the realms of sexual behaviour, communicable diseases and other matters. It is entertaining but it is not clear where it takes us beyond some questionable stereotypes, which themselves are often disproved by his own examples.

T.V. Paul, reviewing security matters, shows how states are getting stronger and more intrusive, in a chapter that takes on particular relevance in the light of recent developments. Jeffery Herbst examines states and war in Africa. The starting point is that foreign war allowed the European state to establish an effective taxing and administrative capacity but that the absence of inter-state war has deprived African states of this experience. The analogy is a bit stretched, and he is not actually saying that inter-state wars are a good thing, but it would have been useful to have a more extended discussion on what might take their place.

Moving to state autonomy, Francesco Duina examines the role of legislatures in common markets with a systematic comparison of the European Union and Mercosur. Christopher Hood presents a balanced and sophisticated analysis of the state and taxation, although the ending is a bit inconclusive. John Campbell examines how states respond to globalization in different ways, emphasizing cognitive and normative factors alongside the usual political economy and institutional effects. Rudra Sil undertakes a comparative analysis in industrial relations, concluding once again that the effects are different in different states.

The final section looks at state capacity under transition. Grzegorz Ekiert argues that the problem in post-communist societies has not been the strong state but state weakness. His analysis of Poland, however, is a little one-sided. All the changes tend to be interpreted as contributing to state strength, including the social blockages that delayed reform and the political fragmentation. The account is entirely positive and uncritical. Minxin Pei's account of China, on the other hand, is very critical, pointing to the massive waste and corruption involved in the transition to the market without political reform, which has allowed predators to exploit state assets.

There is a wealth of material in this collection. It is well-edited, with the chapters making references to each other and an effective introduction and conclusion by the editors. The case studies always reach out to broader debates and issues. It can be recommended as stimulating set of readings for those interested in the debates on globalization and state transformation.