United Kingdom

Finance and Capitalism: The City's Imperial Role Yesterday and Today

Strange, Susan. Review of International Studies 20, no. 4 (1994): 407-410.

In this short review of P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins British Imperialism (2 vols) (London: Longman 1993), Strange again emphasises the structural characteristics of US power in the global system and suggest that Britain's structural power was more long lasting than is sometimes presumed, with clear implications for the continuing power of the US in the global economy.

Keywords: Hegemony; Money and Finance; Structural Power, Power; United Kingdom

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

Year of Publication: 1994

Sterling and British Policy

Strange, Susan. London: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Strange proposes a four element theoretical framework for international currencies in the international political economy: Neutral currencies; Top currencies; Master Currencies; and Negotiated currencies, where each category exhibits certain economic and political characteristics. A currency may display more than one set of characteristics but will belong predominantly to one category. She then goes on to discuss the development of the international political economy in light of the decline of sterling and the rise of the dollar. The discussion of the sectoral implications for Britain is firmly placed in its international political context, prefiguring Strange’s later argument that sectoral analysis should precede general analysis of the international political economy.

Keywords: Money and Finance; Political Economy; Theory; United Kingdom

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Money and Finance, Political Economy, Theory, United Kingdom, 1970's
Source and Medium: Book

Year of Publication: 1971

Sterling and British Policy: A Political View

Strange, Susan. International Affairs 47, no. 2 (1971): 302-315.

Strange sets the decline of sterling and the rise of the dollar in the context of international politics. She stresses the need to integrate economic studies with those of international relations. Both state behaviour and the behaviour of international society, hitherto interpreted in terms of power and politics should now be extended to take in the monetary factor especially in the light of economic interdependence - the monetary factor is bound to become increasingly important in understanding state behaviour. These views are then developed in Sterling and British Policy (1971) while the importance of monetary factors is a theme which underlies all of her subsequent work.

Keywords: Money and Finance; United Kingdom; Interdependence

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Money and Finance, United Kingdom, 1970's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1971

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

British Foreign Policy

Strange, Susan. In Year Book of World Affairs 1955, edited by George W. Keeton, Georg Schwarzenberger, 35-53. London: Stevens, 1955.

Strange argues that a state whose power is waning is more liable to make fatal mistakes. British economic survival could only be made possible by conditions of expanding world trade, rising standards of living in export markets and a minimum of economic nationalism. Britain's future thus largely depends on the US, as she is no longer as essential as a market and supplier of capital as she once was to the members of the Commonwealth. As she notes, a small fall in American consumption led to a large cut in American imports from the Sterling Area, revealing this dependence. Strange suggests that as a result a major role of British foreign policy is to sustain the US's role in the international economy to ensure continued expansion and growth.

Keywords: Hegemony; Money and Finance; Trade; United Kingdom; United States; Economic Development

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: George W. Keeton and Editor: Georg Schwarzenberger
Keywords: Hegemony, Money and Finance, Trade, United Kingdom, United States, 1950's and earlier, Susan Strange
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1955