Theory

The Transformation of the World Economy

Strange, Susan. In Mapping the Unknown: Towards a New World Order (Yearbook of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs 1992-1993), edited by Lidija Babic, Bo Huldt, 43-49. London: Hurst and Co., 1993.

In this short article Strange reviews many of the same arguments that have been featured above. However, here she argues that the transformation of the world economy is not so much the product of state/firm interactions, rather it is firms that are playing (and will continue to play) the more important role in structural change. This finally represents a complete reversal of the position of 'Follow-up commentary On Money and World Politics' (1984). Strange also argues that the supposed problems of the emergence of trading blocs (the three main blocs being centred on the US, Japan and Europe - the triad) are not crucial to the stability of the global economy, as she had implicitly argued in her discussions of protectionism. The problems and structural transformation of the global economy are rooted in the financial structure, and it is here that the US needs to assert its leadership for the future good of the international system.

Keywords: Corporations; Global Governance; Hegemony; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Transnational Corporations; Global System

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Lidija Babic and Editor: Bo Huldt
Keywords: Corporations, Global Governance, Hegemony, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1993

States, Firms and Diplomacy

Strange, Susan. International Affairs 68, no. 1 (1992): 1-15.

This article in a brief summation of Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991) outlining the central argument of the book concerning the diplomacy between firms and states, and discusses some areas for further research. This represents a useful entry to the book picking out the salient points from the longer work, without the empirical elements. 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: Theory; Markets; States; Structural Power, Power; Technology

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Theory, Markets, States, Structural Power, Power, 1990's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1992

Traitors, Double Agents or Rescuing Knights

Strange, Susan. Working Paper for Table Ronde No. 4 ‘Les Individus dans la Politique Internatioanle’. Association Française de Science Politique, Quatrième Congrès, 1992.

In this working paper Strange links her approach laid out in States and Markets (1988) and links it to the research she had recently published on the role of firms in the global system Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991). This leads her to conclude that a greater role for firms (and their decision-makers, their managers) must be recognised by social science, and that the 'nation state' is less and less useful as a concept for the study of the global system. Once again Strange's frustration with the myopia of her colleagues is scarcely concealed.

Keywords: Corporations; Global governance; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Transnational Corporations; Global System

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Global governance, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Working Paper

Year of Publication: 1992

An Eclectic Approach

Strange, Susan. In The New International Political Economy (International Political Economy Year Book No. 6), edited by Craig N. Murphy, Roger Tooze, 33-49. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1991.

Strange reiterates the structural dimensions of power from States and Markets (1988) and then goes on to develop this further by adding three conditioning factors that influence the structural elements of power - these are states, markets and technology. Essentially the new element here is the dynamic of technology. Strange makes the contribution of the technological dynamic to the four structures more explicit in this article than previously. She then concludes by again stressing the need for interdisciplinary understanding of IPE and how this should influence the teaching of the subject.

Keywords: Theory; Markets; States; Structural Power, Power; Technology

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Craig N. Murphy and Editor: Roger Tooze
Keywords: Theory, Markets, States, Structural Power, Power, 1990's, Susan Strange
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1991

Big Business and the State

Strange, Susan. Millennium: Journal of International Studies 20, no. 2 (1991): 245-250.

Strange argues in this short piece that TNCs should be placed at the centre of IPE analysis along with the state and should not be left on the periphery. She also argues for an outside-in understanding of TNCs, putting them into the context in which they operate to understand them. This context is being transformed by changes in the production and financial structures, while she implicitly also argues for the centrality of changes in the 'knowledge' structure.

Keywords: Corporations; Knowledge; Structural Power, Power; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Knowledge, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's, Susan Strange
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1991

Economic Linkages 1967-87

Strange, Susan. In The West and the Third World: Essays in Honour of J.D.B. Miller, edited by Robert O'Neill, John Vincent, 224-241. Basingstoke: Macmillan Academic and Professional, 1990.

In this article Strange sets Miller's work into the context of the analysis of international relations. Her central argument is two-fold - firstly, changes in the international political economy can only by understood through an analysis of structural power. And again she explicitly recognises the Marxist approach as both powerful and incomplete. She then stresses the continuing if changing role of the state, and state based authority. She suggests that this accounts for the continuing appeal of Realism. Having discussed a number of changes in international relations, she attributes to her former colleague (Miller was at Chatham House at the same time she was) a perspective consistent with her own.

Keywords: Structural Power, Power; Theory; Realism; International Relations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Robert O'Neill and Editor: John Vincent
Keywords: Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1990

Finance, Information and Power

Strange, Susan. Review of International Studies 16, no. 3 (1990): 259-274.

Strange discusses the difference between American structural power and Japanese relational power in the financial structure. In addition she discusses the impact of communications technology changes on the operation of international financial markets, which represents an illuminating case study of how two structures interact with each other to bring about changes in the international political economy, in this case the financial and knowledge structures. In addition Strange notes that at least part of American structural power is derived from the privileged position of the 'American-English' language in the knowledge structure. 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: Knowledge; Money and Finance; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Knowledge Production

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Knowledge, Money and Finance, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1990

The Name of the Game

Strange, Susan. In Sea Changes: American Foreign Policy in a World Transformed, edited by Nicholas X. Rizopoulos, 238-273. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1990.

Strange develops an argument that the competition for territory in international relations has been superseded by the competition for world market shares. This decline in the importance in territory has engendered among other things an international business civilisation that is based on firms and enterprises rather than nationality. However this seems to be different from the transnational empire she suggests in 'Towards a Theory of Transnational Empire' (1989). This central change in the international political economy, has led to a diffusion of state power, but still leaves the US the most powerful actor in the world. Strange argues that power is shifting from a territorial state basis, to a transnational enterprise basis. However this power is geographical, centred on such cities as New York and Los Angeles, not as before on Washington DC. This article marks a significant step towards the analysis of firms as being as important as states for Strange's IPE, fully developed in Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991) .

Keywords: Corporations; Markets; Theory; Structural Power, Power; International Economics; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Nicholas X. Rizopoulos
Keywords: Corporations, Markets, Theory, Structural Power, Power, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1990

International Political Economy: Reuniting Three Fields of Intellectual Endeavour

Strange, Susan. Liberal Education 75, no. 3 (1989): 20-24.

Strange uses the work she was co-ordinating with John Stopford, later published as Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991) to launch a critique of the separation of International Relations, International Economics and the research carried out in business schools. She argues that her approach, foregrounding structural power, requires analysis from all three directions and therefore there needs to be much better contact and co-operation between the three fields. Here Strange is again expressing her frustration, which first surfaced in 'International economics and international relations: a case of mutual neglect' (1970) and continued to produce recommendations for the breaking down of disciplinary boundaries throughout her subsequent career. 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: Political Economy; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Political Economy, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1989

Towards a Theory of Transnational Empire

Strange, Susan. In Global Changes and Theoretical Challenges: Approaches to World Politics for the 1990s, edited by Ernst-Otto Czempiel and James N. Roseneau, 161-176. Lexington: Lexington Books, 1989.

In this article Strange offers only her second explicit excursion into the epistemology of international theories, the first being a similar section in States and Markets (1988). She argues that theories must be more than description, taxonomy, importation of models from other disciplines or quantitative and that theories must explain some aspect of the international system not obvious to 'commonsense'. In addition she argues for her own version of non-positivism stressing only that rationality of explanation is required for a theory to be scientific. In the second part of this article Strange argues for a non-territorial theory of imperialism based on her four structures of power. The transnational empire she identifies is centred on the 'court' in Washington DC, and she argues that new studies of empire are needed to understand this new type of transnational empire. What is required is a problem solving theory for such an empire, since it is manifestly in existence. Reprinted in: Political Regulation in the 'Great Crisis', edited by Werner Väth. 25-42. Berlin: Edition Sigma, 1989; and in Authority and Markets: Susan Strange’s Writings on International Political Economy, edited by Roger Tooze and Christopher May. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Keywords: Hegemony; Political Economy; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Ernst-Otto Czempiel and Editor: James N. Roseneau
Keywords: Hegemony, Political Economy, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1989

Defending Benign Mercantilism

Strange, Susan. Journal of Peace Research 25, no. 3 (1988): 273-277.

In this review of Robert Gilpin's Political Economy of International Relations, Strange again argues against 'Hegemonic Stability Theory', see 'The persistent myth of lost hegemony' (1987), but has started to develop a theory of transnational empire to explain the structural power of the United States. Part of this argument is the increasing non-territoriality of structural power, which is developed in a number of works below.

Keywords: Hegemony; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Trade

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Hegemony, Structural Power, Power, Theory, Trade, 1980's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1988

States and Markets

Strange, Susan. London: Printer Publishers, 1988.

Although subtitled 'An Introduction...' to IPE, this represents the only book length discussion of Strange's theory of the four dimensions of power in IPE. It is at once an introduction to the subject and a forceful agenda setting exercise for further research. As such, though often appearing on undergraduate course reading lists, this is Strange's defining book, one about which the rest of her work revolves. Strange discusses her ideas on theory building and methodology as well as the four structures of power in the international political economy: security, finance, production and knowledge. This discussion is mobilised around the balance of authority and markets and the questions of value preferences, and of course 'cui bono?' (who benefits?). She then applies this analysis to a number of 'secondary structures'. Those who dismiss this as 'merely an introductory text' have completely missed the point! Prologue 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: Foundational Work; Political Economy; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Authority vs Markets

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Foundational Work, Political Economy, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book

Year of Publication: 1988

The Persistent Myth of Lost Hegemony: Reply to Milner and Snyder 'Lost Hegemony?'

Strange, Susan. International Organisation 42, no. 4 (1988): 751-752.

In reference to (1987) there was a brief methodological exchange in the pages of International Organisation which while essentially inconclusive, offered a brief clue to Strange's attitude to empirical evidence. Though she originally cited empirical data, in response to the criticism from Milner and Snyder that this evidence left her arguments unproved, Strange answered that the real evidence to prove her argument empirically would be too difficult to collect, though in theory it could be possible to compile. What seems clear from this exchange, is that Strange is not dealing with 'evidence' in its strict form and has a permissive view towards its acceptability.

Keywords: Hegemony; Structural Power, Power; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Hegemony, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1988

The Persistent Myth of Lost Hegemony

Strange, Susan. International Organisation 41, no. 4 (1987): 551-574.

Strange's classic attack of the 'declinist school' in international relations. Once she has discussed the more 'sociological' reasons for American academics holding this view (of which the most powerful/cynical is that it is essentially a convenient denial of responsibility by Americans for their effect on the international system), Strange goes on to elaborate the four structures of power in IPE. This exposition closely parallels (though in a brief form) the arguments that appear in States and Markets (1988). Strange again identifies the American domestic political process (and constitutional structure) as being the root of many of international problems. Strange suggests that the domestic and international cannot be separated analytically, and her structural analysis of power explains the effects of American domestic politics on the international political economy. An earlier version was given in a conference paper presented to the 30th Annual Conference of the Japan Association of International Relations in Tokyo, October 1986. Reprinted in: Authority and Markets: Susan Strange’s Writings on International Political Economy. Roger Tooze and Christopher May, editors. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Keywords: Foundational Work; Hegemony; Structural Power, Power; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Foundational Work, Hegemony, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1987

Casino Capitalism

Strange, Susan. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1986.

Strange argues that uncertainty and risk in the financial sector/structure have provoked major economic disturbances in the last twenty or so years. This work represents a detailed sectoral history and analysis which argues against many of the proposed solutions to the international economic crisis she identifies. Strange argues that the United States must once again take up the leadership role (which it enjoys by virtue of economic preponderance) and more radically suggests that in the future financial regulation of credit creating agencies should not be a territorially based jurisdiction, but based on the currencies themselves wherever the credit transactions take place. Using her analysis, locating and understanding 'key decisions' in one sector/structure of power in the international political economy, Strange shows how disruption has spread to affect the other structures, and concludes with suggestions for how constitutional and governmental changes in the United States would benefit the international system. Alongside States and Markets (1988) and Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991) this represents a major part of the influential core of Strange's work on international political economy. Reprinted, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997.

Keywords: Foundational Work; Money and Finance; Theory; General Framework

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Foundational Work, Money and Finance, Theory, 1980's, Susan Strange
Source and Medium: Book

Year of Publication: 1986

Comment on David T. Llewellyn 'International Monetary System Since 1972: Structural Change and Financial Innovation': pp. 14-47

Strange, Susan. In Problems of International Money, 1972-85, edited by Michael Posner, 44-45. Washington D.C.: IMF/London: ODI, 1986.

Identifying herself as a 'political realist', Strange stresses the need to accord sufficient weight to the 'realities' of power and the profit motive when examining the interaction of authority and markets in the international financial system. Thus while Llewellyn's paper is well received, he is too polite about the problems policy makers and economic 'experts' have been unable to solve.

Keywords: Authority; Markets; Money and Finance; Theory; Realism

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Michael Posner
Keywords: Authority, Markets, Money and Finance, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1986

Supranationals and the State

Strange, Susan. In States in History, edited by John A. Hall, 289-305. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.

To some extent a precursor to Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John Stopford, 1991) which concludes that there is a functional convergence between states and TNCs. The central argument is that transnationals - TNCs and international organisations - both support and undermine states at the same time. There is a paradoxical symbiosis, that is under-examined due to most writers discussing either support roles or undermining roles. In addition there has been a shift in the basis of economic power, from land and power to capital and knowledge. Clearly this part of Strange's larger argument about the transnational power of capital and American TNCs, and represents the beginning of a shift away from the position suggesting a final authority of states over transnationals in Paths to International Political Economy (1984).

Keywords: Corporations; Knowledge; Theory; Corporations; Knowledge Production

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: John A. Hall
Keywords: Corporations, Knowledge, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1986

The Bondage of Liberal Economics

Strange, Susan. SAIS Review 6, no. 1 (1986): 25-38.

Here Strange returns again to the inadequacy of economics in its analysis of international trade, made in 'International Trade' (1955) and 'International money matters' (1970), and elsewhere. Noting the contradictions between economic models of international trade and what was actually happening in the international economy, Strange argues economists have failed to appreciate that trade is only a secondary international structure. This leads her to briefly lay out the argument that would be developed at more length in States and Markets (1988). Most importantly she firmly concludes that international economics is an ideological construction which serves the interests of the powerful states, most significantly the United States.

Keywords: Economics; Hegemony; Theory; Trade; General Framework

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Economics, Hegemony, Theory, Trade, 1980's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1986

International Political Economy: The Story so Far and the Way Ahead

Strange, Susan. In An International Political Economy (International Political Economy Yearbook No. 1), edited by W. Ladd Hollist, F. LaMond Tullis, 13-25. Boulder: Westview Press, 1985.

After noting again the essential role of economic historians in the study and understanding of the international political economy, Strange builds on an appreciation of the value of development economists, a plea for the re-inclusion of values into the study of IPE. This in the main is because they are already tacitly included, but there is little engagement with the economist's prioritising of efficiency or the International Relations scholar's of peace. Part of the job of IPE must be to make clear what choices these priorities represent and to discuss alternatives and different value hierarchies.

Keywords: Political Economy; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: W. Ladd Hollist and Editor: F. LaMond Tullis
Keywords: Political Economy, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1985

Interpretations of a Decade

Strange, Susan. In The Political Economy of International Money: In Search of a New Order, edited by Loukas Tsoukalis, 1-43. London: RIIA/Sage Publications Ltd, 1985.

After reiterating her criticism of over-specialisation in the study of international economic relations, Strange goes on to discuss the shortcomings of a large spectrum of perspectives on economic development. The bulk of this article subsequently appeared as chapter three of Casino Capitalism (1986).

Keywords: Theory; Economic Development

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Loukas Tsoukalis
Keywords: Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1985

The Poverty of Multilateral Economic Diplomacy

Strange, Susan. In Diplomacy at the United Nations, edited by Geoff Berridge, Anthony Jennings, 109-129. London: Macmillan Press, 1985.

After reviewing the four values authority might pursue - wealth, security, justice and freedom (an argument developed at more length in States and Markets (1988), she uses these value choices to interrogate the three main paradigms used to think about the international political economy, liberalism, structuralism and nationalism. She then examines UN economic multilateralism utilising an eclectic combination of all three perspectives and concludes that as each approach continues to look to international organisation to sustain the values it emphasises, despite its failings economic multilateralism is likely to continue to be regarded as a worthwhile enterprise.

Keywords: Structural Power, Power; Theory; General Framework; United Nations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Geoff Berridge and Editor: Anthony Jennings
Keywords: Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1985

Conclusion

Strange, Susan. In Paths to International Political Economy, edited by Susan Strange. London: Allen and Unwin, 1984.

Strange then poses the question 'What about International Relations?' in her conclusion to Paths to International Political Economy (1984). After discussing the importance of the grounding in politics for economists and vice versa, Strange notes that radical theorists have concentrated too much on the production structure, and notes that the other three (finance, security and 'knowledge') are as important. However this is not developed further. She goes on to identify the state as still the central decision making body in the international political economy. She notes that even multinationals in the final analysis bow to the wishes of their home state. This view is in sharp contradiction to the transnational structural theory of power which would emerge over the next few years.

Keywords: Corporations; Structural Power, Power; Theory; International Relations; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1984

On Money and World Politics

Strange, Susan, D.P. Calleo. In Paths to International Political Economy, edited by Susan Strange. London: Allen and Unwin, 1984.

Strange discusses 'Money and World Politics' criticising economists for supposing questions of values and power are questions of market 'imperfections' and not of central importance. The article then goes on to consider the balance of payments problem and how suggestions for addressing this 'problem' reveal theoretical standpoints. They also note the disruptive influence/effect of American policies on the financial structure. The article concludes with a plea for a return to more 'objective' analysis of global problems, not driven by government set academic objectives.

Keywords: Hegemony; Money and Finance; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, D.P. Calleo and Editor: Susan Strange
Keywords: Hegemony, Money and Finance, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1984

Paths to International Political Economy

Strange, Susan, editor. London: Allan and Unwin, 1984.

This is a collection of nine essays looking at various sectoral aspects to the study of IPE, together with a brief preface by Strange. In her preface Strange again singles out development economists, applied economists and economic historians and praises their openness to insights and evidence from other disciplines and sub-disciplines. Implicitly there is an epistemological argument here, against theoretical closure, though as in the majority of her writings this remains implicit.

Keywords: Theory

Contributor(s): Editor: Susan Strange
Keywords: Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Edited Volume

Year of Publication: 1984