The level of economic and industrial development enjoyed by a state affects the foreign policy goals it can pursue. (46) {{U}}As a general proposition, the more developed a state is economically, the more likely it is that it will play an activist role in the world political economy.{{/U}} Rich nations have interests that extend far beyond their borders and typically command the means necessary to pursue and protect them. (47) {{U}}Not coincidentally, countries that enjoy industrial capabilities and extensive involvement in international trade also tend to be militarily powerful, in part because military might is a function of economic capabilities. {{/U}}For two decades after world war two, the United States and the Soviet Union stood out as superpowers precisely because they benefited from that combination of economic and military capability including extensive arsenals of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them anywhere, that enabled both to practice unrestrained globalism. Their imperial reach and interventionist behaviors were seemingly unrestrained by limited wealth or resources. In fact, major powers have been involved in foreign conflict more frequently than minor powers.
Although economically advanced nations are more active globally, this does not mean that their privileged circumstances dictate adventuresome policies. Rich nations are usually "satisfied" ones that have much to lose from the onset of revolutionary change or global instability. (48) {{U}}For this reason, they usually perceive preservation of the status quo as serving their interests best, and they often practice international economic policies designed to protect and expand their envied position at the pinnacle of the global hierarchy. {{/U}}
Levels of productivity and prosperity also affect the foreign policies of the poor states at the bottom of the hierarchy. (49) {{U}}Some respond to their economic weakness by complying subserviently with the wishes of the rich on which they depend. Others rebel defiantly, and they sometimes succeed in resisting major power efforts to control their international behavior. {{/U}}
Hence efforts to generalize about the economic foundations of states' international political behavior often prove unrewarding. Levels of economic development vary widely among states in the international system, but they do not by themselves determine foreign policies. (50) {{U}}Instead the opportunities and constraints that leaders perceive in their nation's attributes, rather than the actual level of development, may be the determining source of states' international conduct. {{/U}}