International Political Economy
1 total work
The Antigua versus US dispute over Internet gambling makes little sense at surface level. What logic would push a tiny Caribbean state like Antigua, with a population of less than 70,000 people, to wage a protracted struggle against the United States? And, what is more, to do so via the World Trade Organization, a multilateral organization in which the US traditionally played a dominant role? Cooper examines this case in the wider context of international political economy and diplomatic context. Gambling analogies, as highlighted by the famous 'Casino Capitalism' metaphor of Susan Strange, have intensified amidst the financial crisis. Yet, this is the first major study dealing with Internet gambling as an integral albeit controversial component of the world economy. It does so by revealing both the parallels and the differences between the nature and the treatment of gambling and offshore finance.