Making war expensive and peace cheap: The emergence of new liberal internationalism in Anglo-American thought, 1897--1914

“Making War Expensive and Peace Cheap” resurrects new liberal internationalism as a distinct, significant and critically neglected approach to international relations as it emerged between 1897 and 1914. This approach drew and expanded upon a tradition of thought that had crystallized in the middle of the nineteenth century in the ideas and work of Richard Cobden. Like some modern theorists of globalization, new liberal internationalists emphasized the process of internationalization—especially in finance and economics—that they believed was transforming international relations, slowly undermining the division of the world into distinct and mutually antagonistic nation-states.; The first three chapters explore the evolution of new liberal internationalism in the work of three key figures: J. A. Hobson, David Starr Jordan, and Norman Angell. In 1910, they became active collaborators in a desperate battle to promote new liberal internationalism amongst the Anglo-American elite. Chapter Four analyzes this battle. It argues they were remarkably successful. Unlike the ideas espoused by British Radicals and other peace activists, new liberal internationalism crossed political boundaries to reach the unconverted. It became a key component of the earliest courses on International Relations offered in the United States. Its success suggests that between 1910 and 1914 the thinking of the British elite on international affairs was more confused than historical accounts traditionally argue. It was only when war broke out that this changed and the new liberal internationalists became historical losers.