Thread by @ProfPaulPoast

What does economics have to do with grand strategy?

After seeing much discussion of this question over the past few days, I want to share some of my favorite works on the topic

[THREAD]

Before I start, what do I mean by grand strategy?

To keep it simple, I view grand strategy as "a state's role in the world". This is close to what @RebeccaLissner calls "grand strategy as blueprint" (note: read the entire Nov 2018 @TXNatSecReview issue)

tnsr.org/2018/11/what-i…

We can approach the economics-grand strategy link in two ways:

(1) Foreign economic policy as a component of grand strategy

(2) Domestic economy as providing the material foundation for pursuing grand strategy

I'm focusing on (1) in this thread.

Though I'm focusing on (1), my favorite book on (2) is by @thoatley

amazon.com/Political-Econ…

When linking foreign economic policy to grand strategy, you can look at three policy areas:

1) Production & Corporations

2) Trade & Migration

3) Finance & Money

With production, you have to start with Robert Gilpin and his classic work "U.S. power and the multinational corporation". In it, Gilpin makes the MNC the linchpin of a mercantilist US foreign economic policy.

amazon.com/Multinational-…

Susan Strange echoed and expanded this view in @IntOrgJournal. Power, for strange, required controlling production and finance, as well as security (and information)

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Strange would elaborate on these views in her book "States and Markets"

books.google.com/books/about/St…

Stephen Brooks took this argument further, focusing specifically on the role of US defense contractors in his @PrincetonUPress book "Producing Security"

press.princeton.edu/titles/8087.ht…

That's it for production. What about trade?

The idea that international trade could be used to enhance (or detract from) relationships with allies and adversaries is the core idea of Joanne Gowa's classic @PrincetonUPress book:

books.google.com/books/about/Al…

And this is a critical theme in the recent work by Bill Wohlforth and Stephen Brooks in their @OUPPolitics book "America Abroad":

books.google.com/books?id=_cCSD…

You really can't discuss trade and grand strategy without bringing up the "Open Door" Policy of the US ensuring that trade to China was not cutoff by a single European power

...and this means you have to bring up the historian William Appleman Williams and his thesis that US foreign policy is largely explained by the need to expand markets.

books.google.com/books/about/Th…

From an IR perspective, this @CornellPress book by @knarizny details how domestic socioeconomic groups pushed for the United States to pursue a particular grand strategy in the hope of supporting the opening of the global economy.

books.google.com/books?id=R5Z6Q…

@PSBenFordham offered a nice focused example of this process in this @IntOrgJournal piece looking at the commercial export interests that pushed for the creation of a large global US navy

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Keeping with @PSBenFordham for a moment, I always considered his @UofMPress book on NSC-68, the Korean War, and the maintenance of US markets abroad as a critical read, especially on the topic of linking grand strategy with economic policy:

books.google.com/books/about/Bu…

As for migration, this is often brought in via discussion of border walls/border security and refugee policies. @HalBrands @SurvivalEditors piece is an example:

tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

And @MigrationNerd in @monkeycageblog shows how demand for immigrant labor influences the policies advocated by the Republican party.

Hence, immigration policy, like the arguments in the above mentioned trade pieces, is influenced by business interests:

washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-ca…

How about finance, money, and grand strategy?

Any discussion of this topic would be incomplete without looking at how the maintenance of the dollar as the global reserve currency has been a key enabler (see @thoatley above) and motivation for US grand strategy.

Works in this vein include @profdws @RISjnl piece...

tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…

...and Carla Norrlof's book, which uses an economic lense to offer a stark "anti-declinist" view

books.google.com/books?id=lMfuh…

And there is the work by @B_Eichengreen on the link between currency power and alliance politics, such as this @voxeu piece

voxeu.org/article/geopol…

Admittedly, much of the above discussion is US focused.

But the US is not the only one needing to pursue a grand strategy and needing to consider the economic basis and consequences of that strategy.

For a discussion of how these factors play out in Europe, one should read @kaijaschilde's @CambridgeUP book:

books.google.com/books/about/Th…

👆by no means provides an exhaustive list. But it should offer a sense of the work by IR scholars looking at the economic angle of grand strategy. It's #IR_True_NonTrivial research!

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Addendum: thx to @shifrinson for reminding me to include Frank Gavin's spectacular book. 🤦‍♂️ Indeed, this book influenced much of my thinking about the the political economy of security. Can't believe I left it off!!

books.google.com/books?id=8Spcl…

Addendum 2: When undergrads ask for a book recommendation, I always recommend @DanielYergin's "The Prize". Focused on oil, it obviously captures the same themes of economic motivations driving grand strategy.

Note: It's the book that led me to study IR!

amazon.com/Prize-Epic-Que…

Addendum 3: thx to @ailiopd for reminding me to bring up "Geoeconomics"! Namely, @jennifermharris @ Blackwill's book "War by Other Means"

books.google.com/books/about/Wa…

Addendum 4: Keeping with "Geoeconomics", have to bring up the work of Edward Luttwak, namely his 1990 @TheNatlInterest piece

jstor.org/stable/pdf/428…