ABSTRACT
Rob Walker began his pathbreaking 1993 book Inside/Outside with a reference to an old ‘Celtic’ joke, the punch line of which was ‘the inadvisability of starting from “here”’ (Walker, 1991: ix). His reference was to the condition of international relations theory, which he considered to be less than congenial to the form of analysis that he was presenting. The punch line to that particular joke comes back to mind as we begin this book. Not only has the discipline overlooked the changing geopolitical situation, it has also failed to address a mounting economic and political crisis at a global level, and the escalating evidence that life on the planet is facing a system-wide catastrophe.
