Susan Strange

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Susan Strange (9 June 1923 – 25 October 1998) was a British political economist and a pioneer of international political economy (IPE). She wrote influential books such as Sterling and British Policy (1971), Casino Capitalism (1986), States and Markets (1988), The Retreat of the State (1996), and Mad Money (1998). She helped create the British International Studies Association (BISA).

Strange was the first woman to hold the Montague Burton Professorship of International Relations at the London School of Economics (LSE), and she was the first female named chair at LSE. She built Britain’s first graduate program in IPE at the LSE and taught at several universities and institutes, including Chatham House and the European University Institute.

Her key idea was that power matters in the global economy. She distinguished relational power (the ability to force others to do something) from structural power (the ability to shape the system itself). She argued that finance and markets can be more powerful than states, and that economists and political scientists need to study both politics and economics together.

Strange helped popularize the concept of “Westfailure,” the idea that traditional nation-states are losing some control in a world with powerful markets. She also spoke about the “market-authority nexus,” where markets gain influence over political decisions.

In Casino Capitalism, she described a risky, fast-moving financial system where speculation can drive instability. She argued that finance had grown stronger than states and that deregulation and new financial instruments were changing world economics. In States and Markets, she outlined four forms of power—security, production, finance, and knowledge—and said financial access was a crucial source of power.

Her other works include Rival States, Rival Firms (1991), on global production and development, and Mad Money (1998), which warned about complex derivatives and rising systemic risk. Many see Strange as someone who foresaw aspects of the 2008 financial crisis.

Personal life: Strange was born in Langton Matravers, Dorset, the daughter of aviator Louis Strange. She married Denis Merritt in 1942; they had two children and later divorced. In 1955 she married Clifford Selly, with whom she had four more children; they also separated. She died in 1998.

Legacy: Strange is considered one of the founders of international political economy and a major influence on the study of world politics and security. Awards and prizes have been named after her, including the Susan Strange Award (ISA), the Susan Strange Book Prize (BISA), and the Susan Strange Young Scholar Award. In 2024, conferences and events celebrated her continuing impact on the field.