Actors, Not Markets Bringing Corporate Power Back in International Studies [Review of: J. Mikler (2018) The Political Power of Global Corporations]

One of the most striking oddities of contemporary international studies is the persistent absence of the modern corporation in analyzing global power relations. What Susan Strange noted almost three decades ago seems to be even more evident today: understanding who holds power in the international system is virtually impossible without moving global corporations from the periphery to the center of analysis (Strange 1991). Today, global giants like Google or Apple are not only omnipresent in the everyday lives of people all around the world but are also key actors in globally relevant political themes, such as global tax avoidance, mass data collection, global value chains, technological change, and energy security. They not only influence state-state relations but also sit at the forefront of battles for political power, often exceeding states in their capabilities to act and react in global capitalism. Despite this key role, the study of global corporate power remains severely underdeveloped, and the few existing works in the field are like “oases in an arid landscape” (Wilks 2013 as cited in Mikler 2018, 4).