The fall of communism, the emergence of 'the information age,' and the expansion of economic globalism are the points of departure for this new edition of Chase-Dunn's landmark book. The author shows how these seemingly new developments fit with earlier patterns of global formation and change, extending the influential model that drew wide attention to this award-winning book. The new edition also evaluates recent major studies of the modern world-system and assesses the implications for the future of the contemporary system.