Welcome to Volume 3 Number 1 of the Journal of International and Global Studies. We continue to increase our subscriptions to this open access online interdisciplinary journal. If you would like to subscribe to the journal, just click on the tab at the top of the page below the journal title. We will be sure to send you the web link to the journal so that you can read and download the essays in accordance with your interests.

This issue for Volume 3 Number 1 is organized a bit different from the previous issues. We have three different sections. We have four major essays in one section, five review essays of two different books in another section, and a number of standard book reviews in the final section. We may continue to organize this journal in this way depending on how many authors would like to write review essays on two or three different books dealing with a similar theme.

We are pleased to have another group of excellent essays for this issue of the journal. Our lead essay in this issue is by several anthropologists based at the University of Missouri-Columbia who write about how cultural traditions have an impact on individuals who are free riders in different societal contexts. These anthropologists draw from the Human Relations Area Files and other sources to note how cultural traditions that are transmitted from ancestral social relationships circumscribe human agency for those individuals who attempt to indulge in free riding behaviors. The use of game theoretical models in understanding cultural evolution is a recent topic in evolutionary anthropology and this essay represents a state-of-the-art development in this area of research. The second essay by Masood Ashraf Raja is an illuminating analysis of the impact of neoliberalism and globalization on Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist movements. The author illustrates the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism with reference to the political rise of General Zia-ul-Haq and his policies in Pakistan, the Soviet-Afghan war, and neoliberal economic developments. This is a vital global issue that needs more attention in international and diplomatic-political arenas.

The third essay by Timothy Gleason Jr. is a unique contribution to this issue. The essay combines the art of photography with globalization developments in Mexico. The photography of Martin Parr is discussed in reference to his work in Mexico as well as in the U.K. and its connections with globalization. There are various links in the essay that take the reader to the photographic images of Parr in Mexico and different areas of the world. The reader is introduced to how the aesthetic aspects of Parr’s work coincide with the development of globalization in its many varied aspects in Mexico.

The fourth essay by Goran Mirascic, an economist working for the Cabinet of Deputy Prime Minister of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a description of the economic developments in this region. He relies on his own investigative economic research along with other current sources on the economy in the Federation to assess what kinds of difficulties and problems exist today. Mirascic indicates that the fragile political structure of the Federation has created some dilemmas for economic stability and control of inflation and other negative developments. He examines the role of the IMF in its attempts to provide for more stability in the Federation, but recommends definitive structural changes that need to be implemented for future improvements for the economic developments in the area. This essay is a case-study of a particular situation and circumstances for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the issue has global implications for everyone involved in economic developments allied with external IMF requirements and political contingencies.

Along with the essays, as mentioned above, we have a number of review essays of significant works that have been produced in various fields. These review essays evaluate two books on a similar theme and assess their contributions for understanding on globalization issues. In the final section, we have a number of book reviews for those scholars who have an interest in interdisciplinary research and in globalization and its consequences throughout the world. Again, as we stated in our first issue of the journal, we intend to maintain this standard of generalized interdisciplinary readability for all of our essays and book reviews in future issues of our journal. We hope that you will subscribe to our journal to read future essays. We also invite you to submit essays and suggest possible book reviews for the journal.

Sincerely,

Raymond Scupin, Ph.D. Director: Center for International and Global Studies Professor of Anthropology and International Studies Lindenwood University