ABSTRACT:
The shockwaves  from globalization continue to amaze and puzzle critics and proponents alike by its sheer complexity. The purpose of the talk is to investigate and reflect on the magnetic power of interdependency and the reasons why the global order remains so volatile, unstable, dangerous and unpredictable. To take stock and to gain perspective on the nature of transformative change requires new tools and concepts. Globalization is a paradoxical phenomenon on many levels. A paradox is defined as oppositions that coexist uneasily within a social order and are not readily resolved. They always require analysis and watching because sometimes these exceptional differences intensify and the world shifts on its axis.

As we will come to see, the best theoretical efforts are increasingly a poor guide to reality. Analysts and students of globalization are right to ask a series of probing questions:

1. Is equilibrium possible between globalization and markets or between states and mega-markets?  Can transformative change be tamed and re-directed? 
2. The second probing issue is to discover whether we have reached the limit to global integration, or whether there is a limit?
3. Thirdly, is there a learning curve to neoliberalism enabling states to become more sophisticated managers of transnational global governance?
4. Fourthly, at this time of financial reform such as the Dodd-Frank Bill, Basel III and the Bank of England's recent efforts to prevent another financial meltdown, will the global capitalist system remain at its core neoliberal?
5. And finally, as for the international order, are we entering a world where every nation is for itself, every corporation for itself, and every social actor is looking to maximize their impact? What is the emerging vision?

As we will discover better answers are possible and needed.