National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade.

Michael T. Florinsky; Albert O. Hirschman

doi:10.2307/2144611

National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade.

Political Science Quarterly ◽

10.2307/2144611 ◽

1946 ◽

Vol 61 (2) ◽

pp. 272

Author(s):

Michael T. Florinsky ◽

Albert O. Hirschman

Keyword(s):

Foreign Trade ◽

National Power

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Beyond asymmetry: critical notes on myself as a young man and on some other old friends

International Organization ◽

10.1017/s0020818300003854 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 45-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Albert O. Hirschman

Keyword(s):

Foreign Trade ◽

International System ◽

The Political ◽

Economic Power ◽

Dependency Theory ◽

Economic Relations ◽

Bases Of Power ◽

National Power ◽

Trade Sector ◽

Old Friends

One of the intellectual precursors of contemporary dependency theory is Albert O. Hirschman's National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade (1945) which examined the political potential inherent in the foreign trade sector. By focusing on the asymmetries in economic relations among countries, and on the possible manipulation of these asymmetries, Hirschman described the structural bases of power and influence in the international system. Like modern dependency theory, so does National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade suffer from a conceptual shortcoming: neither one takes up the issue of the countervailing, dialectical forces generated by these asymmetrical structural relations. A preponderance of objective capabilities may be countered by an asymmetry of opposing desires, as when the “weaker” nation desires its freedom from domination more than the “stronger” nation is bent on dominating it. Another dialectical force may be found in the imbalance between the attentions of any two countries with the stronger country's global involvement diluting its attention while the weaker country is able to concentrate its diplomatic skill on only one or a few salient partners. Thus, calculations based solely on economic power, i.e., on the ability to inflict punishment through economic means, are bound to be inadequate guides to the understanding of evolving relations.

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