ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present an overview of a theory of power and the international distribution of rights and resources that they are developing in collaboration with J. David Richardson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The various German states were unified into a nation later than the other major European powers. The German colonial empire was therefore smaller relative to its national power than that of other colonial powers. The relationship of a nation’s power in its various forms to its share of the world’s wealth is becoming a question of increasing practical as well as of theoretical interest. Economic analysis and academic commentary on international economic issues have often suffered from their failure to recognize the political conflict which is implicit in international economic policy-making. The authors show that the role of threats applies not only to arms races but to other economic and political phenomena such as international trade and the balance of power.
