The 1960's

Works from the years 1960 to 1969

The Meaning of Multilateral Surveillance

Strange, Susan. In International Organisation: World Politics: Studies in Economic and Social Agencies, edited by Robert W. Cox, 231-247. London: Macmillan, 1969.

Taking the relationship between debtor and creditor countries as her starting point Strange argues that multilateral surveillance is not as draconian as it is presented. She notes that military expenditure is seldom included in the requests for debtor country adjustments. Despite the international economic organisations’ role, states were still able to manipulate their creditors through political pressures. Interestingly, Strange notes with great prescience that while at the time states could still play this role, with the continuing internationalisation of money markets (and the emergent technologies that made such developments possible), this would in the future present a strategic problem for states’ governments. The approach she favoured was for the reduction of indebtedness to be borne not by the deficit countries but rather by the surplus countries. That is, the solution to the debt crisis was not more adjustment in the ‘Third World’, but was some form of debt forgiveness.

Keywords: International Institutions, Money and Finance

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Robert W. Cox
Keywords: International Institutions, Money and Finance, 1960's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1969

Research on International Organisation

Strange, Susan, Geoffrey Goodwin. Research on International Organisation (Social Science Research Council Review of Current Research: 2). London: Heinemann Educational, for the Social Sciences Research Council, 1968.

Acting as a rapporteur for the SSRC Advisory Group on International Organisation (chaired by Goodwin), Strange maps out current and future research as well as examining its organisation and administration. Though published two year prior to Strange’s first call for the establishment of International Political Economy, in 'International economics and international relations: a case of mutual neglect' (1970), this report on the discussion of research into international organisation and international relations reveals many themes (from the impact of structure and technology to the importance of international economics) she would develop in her own work.

Keywords: Knowledge; Political Economy; Theory; International Economics

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Geoffry Goodwin
Keywords: Knowledge, Political Economy, Theory, 1960's
Source and Medium: Report

Year of Publication: 1968

Debts, Defaulters, and Development

Strange, Susan. International Affairs 43, no. 3 (1967): 516-529.

Strange suggests that problems of national debt default have not been solved, merely suppressed by the expansion of credit provision. Developing states dependence on ‘supplier credit’, and frequent rescheduling of other debts will lead to eventual wide-spread default unless action is taken. She suggests that: principles governing international loans should be established; these ‘rules’ should be applied through aid-agencies and other international bodies; technical assistance to finance ministries should be available from multilateral institutions (the World Bank, possibly) to ensure states understand their fiscal position and their options. Strange argues that these measures are necessary to forestall a return to the nineteenth century policies of forced intervention, or economic ostracisation of developing states. Strange identifies the centrality of finance to international relations - a central theme of all her subsequent work.

Keywords: International Institutions; Money and Finance

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: International Institutions, Money and Finance, 1960's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1967

The Sterling Problem and the Six

Strange, Susan. London: Chatham House/PEP, 1967.

In this small pamphlet Strange analyses the twin roles of sterling in the international economy - that of reserve currency and of vehicle currency (in which transactions are carried out), in a precursor to her typology of currencies in Sterling and British Policy (1971). She argues that while the City has benefited from the expansion of the ‘Euro-currency’ markets, in its ‘middleman’ role, this has led to a number of problems for sterling both in the wider context of the international economy and, more specifically, the context of the emerging European Community. Sterling had become more vulnerable to changes elsewhere. She is sceptical about the possibility of Britain enjoying any financial benefit from joining the ‘six’, noting that the CAP payments and the IMF repayments together would form an unendurable strain on the exchequer.

Keywords: Europe; Money and Finance; United Kingdom; European Integration

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Europe, Money and Finance, United Kingdom, 1960's
Source and Medium: Book

Year of Publication: 1967

The Sterling Question

Strange, Susan. In Britain and the Common Market, edited by Anthony Moncrieff, 43-50. London, BBC, 1967.

In this text of a radio talk first broadcast on 19th February 1967, Strange summarises the arguments she made in The Sterling Problem and the Six (1967). Discussing the links between Britain and the European Community, she examines the international position of sterling in a time of monetary crisis. Noting both the lack of reserves held by the British government and Britain’s extra-European financial commitments, Strange argues that de Gaulle may be correct in thinking it is impossible for Britain to act ‘like good Europeans’. Thus, one proposed solution to the sterling problem, monetary association with Europe, would have little support on the Continent. Strange finally focuses on the British government’s economic philosophy and its lack of political will as the key problems; issues she would return to frequently, not least of all in her later criticisms of American foreign economic policy.

Keywords: Europe; Money and Finance; European Integration

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Anthony Moncrieff
Keywords: Europe, Money and Finance, 1960's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1967

A New Look at Trade and Aid

Strange, Susan. International Affairs 42, no. 1 (1966): 61-73.

In the light of UNCTAD’s problems, declining optimism over foreign aid and the unfavourable terms of trade for developing states, Strange suggests that ‘Prebisch’s thesis’, allowing subsidised exporting by developing states, and the dropping of tariff barriers, while unpopular would be a useful way forward. She suggests an ‘import bounty’ system, to diffuse opposition, paid for through a tax on developed states domestic and exporting manufacturers. While encouraging industry in developing states, instead of commodity exports, this would reduce the ‘loading of the dice’ identified by G77. Even if not achievable multilaterally, bilateral implementation would help revive help to the developing world and help developed state’s industry to revive through competition. Strange posits the structural problems of international trade, while suggesting the way forward through a combination of economics and politics. Reprinted in: Authority and Markets: Susan Strange’s Writings on International Political Economy, edited by Roger Tooze and Christopher May. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Keywords: Production; Trade; Economic Development

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Production, Trade, 1960's, Susan Strange
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1966

Cuba and After

Strange, Susan. In Year Book of World Affairs 1963, edited by George W. Keeton, Georg Schwarzenberger, 1-28. London: Stevens, 1963.

Resisting the prevailing 'informed' analysis that the Cuban Missile Crisis was more an apparent danger than a real one, Strange sides with the 'man in the street' to argue it was a very real moment of possible war and as such profoundly affected the US system of alliances. However, she also suggests that the immediate aftermath appears to have been a retreat into détente, rather than renewed confrontation. She then turns to survey the impact of the crisis on the various strands of the Western alliance(s), and concludes that the inability of Britain to choose between America and Europe is as much a product of an American inability to decide whether it is serious about an Atlantic Union or not. Interestingly as in her later work, Strange was concerned about the manner in which the US was a hegemonic power and the problem of political will when it was threatened outside its traditional regional sphere of domination, or by the needs of multilateralism in the international system.

Keywords: Hegemony; Security; United States; International Relations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: George W. Keeton and Editor: Georg Schwarzenberger
Keywords: Hegemony, Security, United States, 1960's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1963

Changing Trends in World Trade

Strange, Susan. In Year Book of World Affairs 1962, edited by George W. Keeton, Georg Schwarzenberger, 139-158. London: Stevens, 1962.

Here Strange notes that since 1945 although manufacturing growth has accelerated expanding the trade between developed states there has been less growth in the demand for raw materials and agricultural goods. This distorted or uneven growth in trade had not only had an unsettling effect of world trade, but has also required developing states to take out loans to support their development. Strange suggests that in the long term such an approach is not sustainable, especially if the benefits of international trade are unevenly enjoyed. This leads Strange to suggest four international economic policies to alleviate these problems: the stabilisation of commodity prices to reduce the risks of underdeveloped states' trade; the opening of developed markets (the reduction of tariffs) to the products of the developing states; the use of developed states agricultural surpluses to aid industrial development in poorer states; and international exchange rate co-ordination to stabilise the terms of trade. As so often Strange identifies not a lack of policy choice in developed state inaction but rather a lack of political will.

Keywords: Production; Trade; Economic Development

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: George W. Keeton and Editor: Georg Schwarzenberger
Keywords: Production, Trade, 1960's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1962

Review of: J.L Allen Soviet Economic Power

Strange, Susan. Economica 28, no. 109 (1961): 98-99.

Strange challenges the implicit assertion by the author that the interpretation of Soviet interest, or its choice of the means to an end, is static. She also doubts the ascription by the author of Finnish subservience to the Soviet Union as being solely one of economic dependence rather than strategic vulnerability. As one would expect Strange dismisses mono-causality, as she continues to do in all her work.

Keywords: Political Economy; Security; International Relations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Political Economy, Security, 1960's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1961