Editor's Introduction

      Welcome to the Journal of World-Systems Research.
This is our first "batch" of articles and book reviews.
Electronic journals do not have issues as print
journals do. Rather articles will  usually be added to
the journal individually as they become ready for
publication. Volume 1 will be composed of all those
articles that will be published in 1995.  Each article
has its own unique Number.  Future articles  will be
added to the Volume as they become available,  though
we may again produce more "batches" in connection 
with special topics.

     This  first batch contains:

> four articles on quite different topics -- all
relevant for comprehending the modern world-system, 

> eleven articles related to the special theme of   
"Hegemonic Rivalry : Past and Future,"
 
> and five book reviews.

     The first article, Number 1, is David Wilkinson's
essay about the relationship between the evolutionary
theory of Carroll Quigley and the policies proposed by
Bill Clinton during his first two years as President. 
Clinton was a student of Quigley's at Georgetown,  and
Wilkinson contends that the student was greatly 
influenced by the teacher. Be that as it may,
Wilkinson presents a helpful summary and critique of 
Quigley's explanation of the rise and fall of  
world-systems, ancient and modern.

     Number 2 is a discussion of alternative paths
of  contemporary and future global development by 
economist Myron Frankman. Frankman's critique of
neo-liberalism and "national competitiveness" is
refreshingly set in a deeper temporal and broader 
structural context than most current discussions of
global options. He poses possibility and the  need for
a global democratic federation to humanize the
globalization of markets and investment.

     Number 3 is an analysis of Japanese raw
materials  procurement strategies by Stephen Bunker
and Paul  Ciccantell. Bunker and Ciccantell compare
Japanese approaches with the strategies used by the
U.S.,  Britain and the Netherlands during their rise
to hegemony. Their careful research on aluminum, 
copper, iron and coal reveals an overall pattern in
which the Japanese have inverted the approaches of
contemporary raw materials conglomerates to  structure
a world market in which they are assured of cheap
access to raw materials. The authors  emphasize the
importance of this aspect of global  power as a basis
for rising hegemony. 

     Number 4 is an examination of the bases of
continuing U.S. commitment to international free trade
by Christoph Scherrer. Scherrer notes an emerging
incongruity between the U.S. loss of comparative
advantage in global industry and the continuing
commitment to international free trade policies. His
explanation points to the structure of the state
apparatus, public support for global leadership, the
current weakness of labor unions and the weakness of
alternative ideologies of development.  

     Numbers 5 through 15 focus on various aspects of
the problem of future hegemonic rivalry in the core of
the world-system. These articles are briefly described
in the  Introduction to the Thematic Section.

     The five book reviews are all contained in
subdirectory Number 16. And future reviews published
in Volume 1 (1995) will also be located within Number
16. Number 16.1 is Terry  Boswell's review of Warren
Wagar's _A Short History of the Future_. Number 16.2
is Carl Dassbach's review of Robert Perrucci's
_Japanese Auto Transplants in the Heartland_. Number
16.3 is Tom Hall's review of Andre Gunder Frank and 
Barry Gills's _The World System: Five Hundred or
Five  Thousand Years?_. Number 16.4 is Alexander
Joffe's review of Guillermo Algaze's _The Uruk World
System_. And  Number 16.5 is Wilma Dunaway and Don
Clelland's review of Gary Gereffi and Miguel
Korzeniewicz's _Commodity Chains  and Global
Capitalism_.

     This is the debut of the Journal of World-Systems
Research. With one exception each of the regular
articles has been reviewed anonymously by at least one
referee and the authors have made revisions taking into
account the criticisms and suggestions of the referees. 

     I thank all the authors and all the referees who
contributed their energies to this new venture. I also
thank the editorial assistants -- Bruce Podobnik, 
Susan Manning and Tom Brown for their help in
producing  this first batch. Without them the world
would have had  to wait much longer before seeing the
debut of _JWSR_.  Professor Alejandro Portes of the
Department of Sociology and Dean Stephen Knapp of the
School of Arts and Sciences also deserve thanks for
supporting _JWSR_.

     Our Book Review editor Dale Wimberley also
deserves  praise and thanks for his excellent and
just-in-time efforts.  And thanks also to the book
reviewers for their contributions. Please send
suggestions for books to be reviewed to Dale
Wimberley, Sociology, Virginia
Polytechnic University, Blacksburg, VA. 24061
dale.wimberley@vt.edu 

     Will an electronic journal be taken seriously?
Will people respect something that does not cost $50?
We have believed that the proof is the content, not
the form. You decide.

Chris Chase-Dunn
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
February 3 ,1995