Murray Rothbard is well known as an opponent of warfare perpetrated by states. This includes acts of war by states against other states, as well as acts of war by states against non-state organizations and individuals. Consequently, Rothbard historical scholarship and his political commentary is characterized by consistent opposition to aggressive warfare and imperialism as practiced by states in general, and by the United States government in particular.
Thus, Rothbard’s normative analysis of foreign policy and international relations is quite clear in his many prescriptive statements calling for fewer wars, smaller wars, and more limited warfare in general. In this, Rothbard follows a long tradition of libertarian or radical “classical liberal” theorists.
But did Rothbard provide us with a positive or descriptive analysis of international relations? That is, did Rothbard have a value-free theory of international relations describing the structure of the international system? The answer is yes if we extrapolate from his analysis of the nature of the state and how states interact with each other.
The Fundamental Characteristics of Rothbard’s International System
Rothbard’s description of international relations is characterized by four key tenets of states and their foreign policy:
- The international system is anarchic.
- States are controlled by an oligarchic ruling elite insulated from non-state actors, and a state’s foreign policy is primarily determined by the state’s elites who seek to preserve the system.
- Above all else, states seek to preserve themselves, and they seek to expand their own power, relative to other states, when possible.
- War can be a tool of domestic policy. In some cases, states tend toward war because wars offer an opportunity for states to expand the state’s power over the domestic population.
Rothbard saw the international situation in light of the above four points. This leads to the place where wars are part of diplomacy because states are formed through violent procedures, and, thus, are violent in their relations with outsiders. Whether it is to protect themselves or add more territory they use this tool of diplomacy as a basis of actions. It also means that unless we break one of the four tenents, it will be hard to break the war cycle.