Adam smith and the liberal tradition in international relations

Review of International Studies

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 5-28

  Wyatt Walter, Andrew ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0030540442     PISSN: 02602105     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0260210500118431     Document Type: Article

References (158)

1. Joseph Cropsey, 'Adam Smith and Political Philosophy', in Andrew S. Skinner and Thomas Wilson (eds.), Essays on Adam Smith (Oxford, 1975), p. 132.
2. See also E. H. Carr, The Twenty Years' Crisis 1919-1939 (London, 1946), pp. 43-5.
3. Ibid., p. 43.
4. Kenneth N. Waltz, Man, the State and War. A Theoretical Analysis (New York, 1959), pp. 86, 90. It ought to be noted, however, that Waltz does view Smith's comments on international relations as 'uniformly more perspicacious than those of most liberals of the period'. Ibid., p. 96 n. 33.
5. Kenneth N. Waltz, Man, the State and War. A Theoretical Analysis (New York, 1959), pp. 86, 90. It ought to be noted, however, that Waltz does view Smith's comments on international relations as 'uniformly more perspicacious than those of most liberals of the period'. Ibid., p. 96 n. 33.
6. Martin Wight, International Theory: The Three Traditions, ed. Gabriele Wight and Brian Porter (Leicester and London, 1991), p. 263. See also p. 115.
7. Robert Gilpin, The Political Economy of International Relations (Princeton, 1987), p. 27.
8. For a discussion, see Mark W. Zacher and Richard A. Matthew, 'Liberal International Theory: Common Threads, Divergent Strands', in Charles W. Kegley (ed.), Controversies in International Relations Theory: Realism and the Neoliberal Challenge (New York, 1995).
9. James Shotwell, War as an Instrument of National Policy (New York, 1921), quoted in Waltz Man State and War, p. 98.
10. James Shotwell, War as an Instrument of National Policy (New York, 1921), quoted in Waltz Man State and War, p. 98.
11. Michael Howard, War and the Liberal Conscience (Oxford, 1981), pp. 25, 29.
12. Michael J. Shapiro, Reading 'Adam Smith': Desire, History and Value (London, 1993), also departs from the conventional view in claiming Smith as 'a quintessential critical theorist', a different line of enquiry to that taken in this essay.
13. The full title of Smith's work is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner (Oxford, 1976). Citations from this and other of Smith's works will use the now standard format associated with the Glasgow bicentennial edition of Adam Smith's works and correspondence (published by Oxford University Press), including the following abbreviations: WN The Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. Campbell and Skinner (1976). TMS The Theory of Moral Sentiments [1759], ed. A. L. Macfie and D. D. Raphael (1976). LJ Lectures on Jurisprudence [Reports of 1762-3 and 1766], ed. R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael and P. G. Stein (1978). Corr. Correspondence of Adam Smith, ed. E. C. Mossner and I. S. Ross (2nd edn, 1987).
14. The full title of Smith's work is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner (Oxford, 1976). Citations from this and other of Smith's works will use the now standard format associated with the Glasgow bicentennial edition of Adam Smith's works and correspondence (published by Oxford University Press), including the following abbreviations: WN The Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. Campbell and Skinner (1976). TMS The Theory of Moral Sentiments [1759], ed. A. L. Macfie and D. D. Raphael (1976). LJ Lectures on Jurisprudence [Reports of 1762-3 and 1766], ed. R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael and P. G. Stein (1978). Corr. Correspondence of Adam Smith, ed. E. C. Mossner and I. S. Ross (2nd edn, 1987).
15. The full title of Smith's work is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner (Oxford, 1976). Citations from this and other of Smith's works will use the now standard format associated with the Glasgow bicentennial edition of Adam Smith's works and correspondence (published by Oxford University Press), including the following abbreviations: WN The Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. Campbell and Skinner (1976). TMS The Theory of Moral Sentiments [1759], ed. A. L. Macfie and D. D. Raphael (1976). LJ Lectures on Jurisprudence [Reports of 1762-3 and 1766], ed. R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael and P. G. Stein (1978). Corr. Correspondence of Adam Smith, ed. E. C. Mossner and I. S. Ross (2nd edn, 1987).
16. The full title of Smith's work is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner (Oxford, 1976). Citations from this and other of Smith's works will use the now standard format associated with the Glasgow bicentennial edition of Adam Smith's works and correspondence (published by Oxford University Press), including the following abbreviations: WN The Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. Campbell and Skinner (1976). TMS The Theory of Moral Sentiments [1759], ed. A. L. Macfie and D. D. Raphael (1976). LJ Lectures on Jurisprudence [Reports of 1762-3 and 1766], ed. R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael and P. G. Stein (1978). Corr. Correspondence of Adam Smith, ed. E. C. Mossner and I. S. Ross (2nd edn, 1987).
17. The full title of Smith's work is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner (Oxford, 1976). Citations from this and other of Smith's works will use the now standard format associated with the Glasgow bicentennial edition of Adam Smith's works and correspondence (published by Oxford University Press), including the following abbreviations: WN The Wealth of Nations [1776], ed. Campbell and Skinner (1976). TMS The Theory of Moral Sentiments [1759], ed. A. L. Macfie and D. D. Raphael (1976). LJ Lectures on Jurisprudence [Reports of 1762-3 and 1766], ed. R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael and P. G. Stein (1978). Corr. Correspondence of Adam Smith, ed. E. C. Mossner and I. S. Ross (2nd edn, 1987).
18. See Jerry Z. Muller, Adam Smith in his Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society (New York, 1993), ch. 3, and more generally, Istvan Hont and Michael Ignatieff (eds.), Wealth and Virtue: The Shaping of Political Economy in the Scottish Enlightenment (Cambridge, 1983).
19. See Jerry Z. Muller, Adam Smith in his Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society (New York, 1993), ch. 3, and more generally, Istvan Hont and Michael Ignatieff (eds.), Wealth and Virtue: The Shaping of Political Economy in the Scottish Enlightenment (Cambridge, 1983).
20. WN, IV.ii.9.
21. Ibid.
22. Jacob Viner, 'Adam Smith and Laissez Faire', Journal of Political Economy, 35 (April 1927), pp. 198-232, reprinted in Jacob Viner, The Long View and the Short: Studies in Economic Theory and Policy (Glencoe, 1958), p. 227.
23. Jacob Viner, 'Adam Smith and Laissez Faire', Journal of Political Economy, 35 (April 1927), pp. 198-232, reprinted in Jacob Viner, The Long View and the Short: Studies in Economic Theory and Policy (Glencoe, 1958), p. 227.
24. WN, I.ii.2.
25. WN, IV.ix.51. For a discussion of the role of benevolence and sympathy in the moral order of TMS, see Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', and Thomas Wilson, 'Sympathy and Self-Interest', in Thomas Wilson and Andrew S. Skinner (eds.), The Market and the State: Essays in Honour of Adam Smith (Oxford, 1976).
26. WN, IV.ix.51. For a discussion of the role of benevolence and sympathy in the moral order of TMS, see Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', and Thomas Wilson, 'Sympathy and Self-Interest', in Thomas Wilson and Andrew S. Skinner (eds.), The Market and the State: Essays in Honour of Adam Smith (Oxford, 1976).
27. WN, IV.ix.51. For a discussion of the role of benevolence and sympathy in the moral order of TMS, see Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', and Thomas Wilson, 'Sympathy and Self-Interest', in Thomas Wilson and Andrew S. Skinner (eds.), The Market and the State: Essays in Honour of Adam Smith (Oxford, 1976).
28. Gunnar Myrdal, The Political Element in the Development of Economic Theory (London, 1953), p. 107.
29. WN, IV.ii.21.
30. WN, I.x.c.27.
31. WN, I.x.c.61. For similar concerns, see TMS, VII.iv.36.
32. WN, I.x.c.61. For similar concerns, see TMS, VII.iv.36.
33. WN, IV.vii.c.61. See Nathan Rosenberg, 'Some Institutional Aspects of The Wealth of Nations', Journal of Political Economy (December 1960), p. 558, and also Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', pp. 228ff.
34. WN, IV.vii.c.61. See Nathan Rosenberg, 'Some Institutional Aspects of The Wealth of Nations', Journal of Political Economy (December 1960), p. 558, and also Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', pp. 228ff.
35. WN, IV.vii.c.61. See Nathan Rosenberg, 'Some Institutional Aspects of The Wealth of Nations', Journal of Political Economy (December 1960), p. 558, and also Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', pp. 228ff.
36. WN, I.iii.
37. WN, IV.ix.51.
38. For an assessment of the role of rhetoric in economics and the social sciences in general, see Donald N. McCloskey, The Rhetoric of Economics (Madison, 1986).
39. Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', pp. 231-5.
40. WN, II.iii.36.
41. WN, V.ii.a.4.
42. For a similar argument, see Jacob Viner, 'Power versus Plenty as Objectives in Foreign Policy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries ', in Viner, Long View, and Edward Meale Earle , 'Adam Smith, Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List: The Economic Foundations of Military Power', in Edward Meale Earle (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy: Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler (Princeton, 1971).
43. For a similar argument, see Jacob Viner, 'Power versus Plenty as Objectives in Foreign Policy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries ', in Viner, Long View, and Edward Meale Earle , 'Adam Smith, Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List: The Economic Foundations of Military Power', in Edward Meale Earle (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy: Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler (Princeton, 1971).
44. For a similar argument, see Jacob Viner, 'Power versus Plenty as Objectives in Foreign Policy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries ', in Viner, Long View, and Edward Meale Earle , 'Adam Smith, Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List: The Economic Foundations of Military Power', in Edward Meale Earle (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy: Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler (Princeton, 1971).
45. WN, IV.ii.24ff.
46. WN, IV.ii.30.
47. WN, V.i.b.1.
48. TMS, VII.iv.36; WN, V.i.b.2-3, 12, and V.iii.7.
49. TMS, VII.iv.36; WN, V.i.b.2-3, 12, and V.iii.7.
50. TMS, VII.iv.36; WN, V.i.b.2-3, 12, and V.iii.7.
51. WN, I.i.10, and editors' introduction, p. 37.
52. WN, IV.ii.40-4.
53. WN, IV.vii.c.95, V.i.e.30. See also Gilpin, Political Economy, pp. 180-3.
54. WN, IV.vii.c.95, V.i.e.30. See also Gilpin, Political Economy, pp. 180-3.
55. WN, IV.vii.c.95, V.i.e.30. See also Gilpin, Political Economy, pp. 180-3.
56. WN, II.iv.15.
57. WN, I.x.c.27.
58. WN, IV.ii.43.
59. See Carr, Twenty Years' Crisis, p. 45.
60. WN, IV.ii.24. See also WN, IV.v.a.36, where Smith also recommends for national security reasons bounties upon the exportation of British sailcloth and gunpowder.
61. WN, IV.ii.24. See also WN, IV.v.a.36, where Smith also recommends for national security reasons bounties upon the exportation of British sailcloth and gunpowder.
62. WN, IV.ii.29.
63. WN, II.v.31, italics added.
64. Viner, 'Power versus Plenty', p. 286.
65. WN, IV.vii.c.22-64.
66. Note the potential contradiction with his earlier views on the Acts: compare WN, IV.vii.c.23 with IV.ii.29. It is also notable that this potential contradiction was pounced upon by Governor Thomas Pownell, MP, in his letter to Smith of 25 September 1776. (Corr., appendix A, pp. 357-8.)
67. Note the potential contradiction with his earlier views on the Acts: compare WN, IV.vii.c.23 with IV.ii.29. It is also notable that this potential contradiction was pounced upon by Governor Thomas Pownell, MP, in his letter to Smith of 25 September 1776. (Corr., appendix A, pp. 357-8.)
68. Note the potential contradiction with his earlier views on the Acts: compare WN, IV.vii.c.23 with IV.ii.29. It is also notable that this potential contradiction was pounced upon by Governor Thomas Pownell, MP, in his letter to Smith of 25 September 1776. (Corr., appendix A, pp. 357-8.)
69. WN, IV.vii.c.43-4.
70. WN, IV.vii.c.44.
71. Albert O. Hirschman, The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism Before Its Triumph (Princeton, 1977), p. 79.
72. WN, IV.iii.c.9, and TMS, VI.ii.2.3.
73. WN, IV.iii.c.9, and TMS, VI.ii.2.3.
74. WN, IV.iii.c.9.
75. WN, IV.iii.c.11, italics added.
76. WN, IV.iii.c.13, italics added.
77. WN, V.i.a.15.
78. TMS, VI.ii.2-3.
79. WN, IV.ii.9, italics added.
80. WN, III.iv.4. As Smith notes, this was a theme on which Hume also had much to say (and indeed the Scottish enlightenment as a whole). Smith in his writings identified four stages of socioeconomic development: the stages of hunters, of shepherds, of agriculture, and of commerce.
81. WN, III.iv.10. See also WN, III.iv.17.
82. WN, III.iv.10. See also WN, III.iv.17.
83. WN, III.iv.15.
84. See Zacher and Matthew, 'Liberal International Theory'.
85. WN, IV.iii.c.9.
86. Both quoted in Hirschman, Passions and Interests, p. 80.
87. WN, V.ii.a.4.
88. WN, V.iii.37. For an equally cynical and remarkably similar view of the relationship between democracy and war, see John Kenneth Galbraith, The Culture of Contentment (London, 1993), ch. 9.
89. WN, V.iii.37. For an equally cynical and remarkably similar view of the relationship between democracy and war, see John Kenneth Galbraith, The Culture of Contentment (London, 1993), ch. 9.
90. See Michael W. Doyle, 'Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs', Philosophy and Public Affairs, 12, nos. 3 and 4 (1983).
91. WN, IV.vii.c.66.
92. WN, V.iii.92.
93. Corr., appendix B: 'Smith's Thoughts on the State of the Contest with America, February 1778', pp. 382-3.
94. WN, IV.vii.c.66.
95. WN, IV.vii.c.74, 75. Smith's proposal entailed full equality of representation and taxation, freedom of trade, and even a provision for the future removal of the seat of the Empire to that part 'which contributed most to the general defence and support of the whole'. (See WN, IV.vii.ci.75-9.)
96. WN, IV.vii.c.74, 75. Smith's proposal entailed full equality of representation and taxation, freedom of trade, and even a provision for the future removal of the seat of the Empire to that part 'which contributed most to the general defence and support of the whole'. (See WN, IV.vii.ci.75-9.)
97. For Smith's scepticism regarding the relationship between commerce and representative government, see Duncan Forbes, 'Sceptical Whiggism, Commerce and Liberty', in Skinner and Wilson (eds.), Essays. Forbes also indicates how Smith's emphasis upon man's baser instincts led him to scepticism that economic progress would bring about the demise of slavery, which Smith held to be economically inefficient as well as immoral. (Ibid., pp. 199-200.)
98. For Smith's scepticism regarding the relationship between commerce and representative government, see Duncan Forbes, 'Sceptical Whiggism, Commerce and Liberty', in Skinner and Wilson (eds.), Essays. Forbes also indicates how Smith's emphasis upon man's baser instincts led him to scepticism that economic progress would bring about the demise of slavery, which Smith held to be economically inefficient as well as immoral. (Ibid., pp. 199-200.)
99. Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois [1748], XXI, 20, quoted in Hirschman, Passions and Interests, p. 73.
100. Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois [1748], XXI, 20, quoted in Hirschman, Passions and Interests, p. 73.
101. Waltz, Man, State, and War.
102. TMS, VI.ii.2.3.
103. Ibid.
104. WN, III.iv.15.
105. WN, V.iii.3, 8, 10. Smith shared with Burke, Hume and others of his time a grave concern about the corrupting influence of increasing public indebtedness. See J. G. A. Pocock, 'The Political Economy of Burke's Analysis of the French Revolution', Historical Journal, 25, no. 2, (1982), pp. 331-49. For the classic account of the 'financial revolution' of the seventeenth century which enhanced the war-making capabilities of the British state, see P. G. M. Dickson, The Financial Revolution in England: A Study in the Development of Public Credit, 1688-1756 (London, 1967).
106. WN, V.iii.3, 8, 10. Smith shared with Burke, Hume and others of his time a grave concern about the corrupting influence of increasing public indebtedness. See J. G. A. Pocock, 'The Political Economy of Burke's Analysis of the French Revolution', Historical Journal, 25, no. 2, (1982), pp. 331-49. For the classic account of the 'financial revolution' of the seventeenth century which enhanced the war-making capabilities of the British state, see P. G. M. Dickson, The Financial Revolution in England: A Study in the Development of Public Credit, 1688-1756 (London, 1967).
107. WN, V.iii.3, 8, 10. Smith shared with Burke, Hume and others of his time a grave concern about the corrupting influence of increasing public indebtedness. See J. G. A. Pocock, 'The Political Economy of Burke's Analysis of the French Revolution', Historical Journal, 25, no. 2, (1982), pp. 331-49. For the classic account of the 'financial revolution' of the seventeenth century which enhanced the war-making capabilities of the British state, see P. G. M. Dickson, The Financial Revolution in England: A Study in the Development of Public Credit, 1688-1756 (London, 1967).
108. WN, V.iii.50.
109. WN, V.iii.67.
110. WN, V.i.f.50.
111. WN, V.i.a.36, and V.i.f.59.
112. WN, V.i.a.36, and V.i.f.59.
113. WN, V.i.a.43-4.
114. WN, V.i.a.39.
115. See the discussion in Winch, Adam Smith's Politics, pp. 105-12.
116. WN, V.i.a.40. In his Lectures, Smith is more Lockean in the case of Britain (LJ (A), iv.178), though his general position is that a standing army loyal to king and country is the best guarantor of domestic liberty. (LJ (A), iv.179, and WN, V.i.a.41.)
117. WN, V.i.a.40. In his Lectures, Smith is more Lockean in the case of Britain (LJ (A), iv.178), though his general position is that a standing army loyal to king and country is the best guarantor of domestic liberty. (LJ (A), iv.179, and WN, V.i.a.41.)
118. WN, V.i.a.40. In his Lectures, Smith is more Lockean in the case of Britain (LJ (A), iv.178), though his general position is that a standing army loyal to king and country is the best guarantor of domestic liberty. (LJ (A), iv.179, and WN, V.i.a.41.)
119. WN, V.i.a.40. In his Lectures, Smith is more Lockean in the case of Britain (LJ (A), iv.178), though his general position is that a standing army loyal to king and country is the best guarantor of domestic liberty. (LJ (A), iv.179, and WN, V.i.a.41.)
120. Rosenberg, 'Institutional Aspects', p. 560.
121. TMS, VI.ii.2.4.
122. TMS, VI.ii.2.6. See also TMS, III.3.4.
123. TMS, VI.ii.2.6. See also TMS, III.3.4.
124. TMS, VI.ii.3.6.
125. LJ (B), 344-5.
126. See Knud Haakonssen, The Science of a Legislator. The Natural Jurisprudence of David Hume and Adam Smith (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 133-4, and TMS, III.3.42.
127. See Knud Haakonssen, The Science of a Legislator. The Natural Jurisprudence of David Hume and Adam Smith (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 133-4, and TMS, III.3.42.
128. WN, IV.i.32, and IV.vii.c.80, 100.
129. WN, IV.i.32, and IV.vii.c.80, 100.
130. TMS, VI.ii.2.3.
131. LJ (B), 339. Smith's discussion is largely confined to the laws of war and diplomatic immunity (based on reciprocity). See LJ (B), 339-58, and TMS, III.3.43, VI.ii.2.2-5, and VII.iv.37.
132. LJ (B), 339. Smith's discussion is largely confined to the laws of war and diplomatic immunity (based on reciprocity). See LJ (B), 339-58, and TMS, III.3.43, VI.ii.2.2-5, and VII.iv.37.
133. LJ (B), 339. Smith's discussion is largely confined to the laws of war and diplomatic immunity (based on reciprocity). See LJ (B), 339-58, and TMS, III.3.43, VI.ii.2.2-5, and VII.iv.37.
134. LJ (B), 339. Smith's discussion is largely confined to the laws of war and diplomatic immunity (based on reciprocity). See LJ (B), 339-58, and TMS, III.3.43, VI.ii.2.2-5, and VII.iv.37.
135. LJ (B), 339. Smith's discussion is largely confined to the laws of war and diplomatic immunity (based on reciprocity). See LJ (B), 339-58, and TMS, III.3.43, VI.ii.2.2-5, and VII.iv.37.
136. TMS, III.3.42.
137. WN, IV.vii.c.80 (italics added).
138. LJ (B), 355-6, and TMS, VI.ii.2.6.
139. LJ (B), 355-6, and TMS, VI.ii.2.6.
140. See Howard, War and Liberal Conscience, pp. 42-4.
141. LJ (B), 353-8.
142. WN, IV.iii.c.9.
143. WN, IV.ii.38-9 (italics added).
144. See WN, editors' introduction, pp. 1-4.
145. Martin Wight, 'Why Is There No International Theory?', in Herbert Butterfield and Martin Wight (eds.), Diplomatic Investigations (London, 1967).
146. Viner, 'Smith and Laissez Faire', p. 221.
147. For a discussion of the long-debated 'Adam Smith problem' concerning the supposed inconsistency of WN and TMS, see editors' introduction, TMS, pp. 20-5.
148. See editors' note on 'The Text and Apparatus', WN, 61-6. Moreover, these changes do not relate to the main passages on international relations.
149. See Martin Ceadel, The Birth of the Peace Movement: From Fatalism to a Pacific Theory of International Relations in Britain, 1730-1854 (forthcoming, Oxford, 1996).
150. Michael Joseph Smith, 'Liberalism and International Reform', in Terry Nardin and David R. Mapel (eds.), Traditions of International Ethics (Cambridge, 1992), p. 202.
151. WN, IV.ix.28.
152. For an account of the apoliticism of much liberal thought, see Sheldon S. Wolin, Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought (London, 1961), pp. 299ff.
153. Hirschman, Passions and Interests, pp. 107-13.
154. Quoted by Albert O. Hirschman, 'Interests', in The New Palgrave: The World of Economics, ed. John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman (London and Basingstoke, 1991), p. 355.
155. George J. Stigler, 'Smith's Travels on the Ship of State', in Skinner and Wilson, Essays, pp. 237-8. See the more extended critique of Stigler in Winch, Adam Smith's Politics, pp. 165-72.
156. George J. Stigler, 'Smith's Travels on the Ship of State', in Skinner and Wilson, Essays, pp. 237-8. See the more extended critique of Stigler in Winch, Adam Smith's Politics, pp. 165-72.
157. In TMS, VII.iii.I, Smith firmly rejects the idea that moral theory could be based entirely upon individual 'self-love'.
158. See Zacher and Matthew, 'Liberal International Theory', pp. 120ff.