The book; the Politics of International Economic Relations by Joan Edelman Spero, is a survey of the strategies that have been so far adopted and others that states have failed to adopt in the management of the International Economic Relations since the World war II. It is an analysis of the economic system created within this period, its prospects, collapse, and the possibilities of establishing new strategies of management.

Spero emphasis states' management since states have increasingly intervened in the management of the International Economy and may increase such interventions in the future. Despites its over three decades of publication, Spero's discourse remains thought provoking in the field of International Relations particularly as it explores the interface between economics and politics in the international system and examined one aspect of that interface: the way in which international politics shapes International Economics. The 447 page book contains ten chapters and divided into four (4) parts.