From Wealth to Power By Fareed Zakaria. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998. 199 pages.)

Abstract

From Wealth to Power is a study in the social and historical dynamics
contributing to the rise and fall of essential actors in the international
system. It attempts to join history with social science theory in order to shed
light on broad theoretical topics in world politics, such as the rise of new
great powers. In so doing it seeks to add to the body of scholarship which
combines the study of state structure with traditional international relations
theory. The particular focus is on the expansive rise of the United States,
not only to world prominence, but also as a modem state. American foreign
policy during the period 1865-1908 is examined in light of changes in
the state structure along the four major variables: scope, autonomy,
coherence and capacity, touching upon that country's domestic and administrative
development.

The first of the six chapters of the book poses the main questions
which Zakaria attempts to address: "What turns rich nations into 'great
powers?' I' "Why, as states grow increasingly wealthy, do they build large
armies, entangle themselves in politics beyond their borders, and seek
international influence?" "What factors speed or retard the translation of
material resources into political interests?", and finally, "Under what
conditions do states expand their political interests abroad?'' Such questions
visualize, on the one hand, a strong and direct correlation between great
powers' economic rise and fall and their growth or decline. Anomalies, on
the other hand, are explained as a "Dutch disease," or the malady which
does not allow "a nation of unequalled individual prosperity and commercial
prowess to remain in a state of great influence and power." The latter,
zakaria claims, was an American affliction during the second half of the
nineteenth century. This was particularly true during the relatively long
period of non-expansion and isolation following the Civil War (1860-64).
Despite a tremendous increase in wealth, productivity and power, it was not
until the 1890s that the US began expanding again. Zakaria considers this
to be an aberration, reflecting a "highly unusual gap between power and
interests," that lasted for some thirty years. An explanation, according to
him, would not only require a full historical account, but more so, "first cut
theories" which clarify national behavior ...