I criticised exactly ONE sub-premise of his argument, and fairly so, I believe. It is simply not rational to assume the longer view status quo for Russia and China, and to lump either of them into one part or the other of the ''Core/Gap'' dichotomy. This may be a convenient device, in the aid of having a nice, tidy theory to present, but this can in no sense be termed ''real-world''.
The phrase ''it's all a dog's dinner'' refers, in the conclusive paragraph, to the broad conditions involving Russia and China, NOT to the general notion of globalisation (with which, I fear, we're rather stuck in the long run), nor to ''Core/Gap'' worldview (although I think his focus on geopolitics and economics is relatively overstressed compared to the importance of ingrained cultural mores), nor to any other portion of his discussion.
This gentleman aside for a moment, you can hardly be impressed, over any significant period of time, with the ''track record'' of practical results that have devolved from the adherence of governments and financial markets to finely-spun academic theories. Can you say ''War on Poverty'' and ''Great Society'', both of which devolved from impeccable (cough) academic sources? Can you say ''Long-Term Capital Management'', two of whose chief partners were Nobel Prize winning academics? Would you care to sit for another hundred or so examples, just off the top of my head?
Beware embracing theory UNTIL there has been demonstrated some practical real-world result.
And who is asuming the status quo for Russia and China?