What Role Economic Development Plays In National Power?

The economic development is another determinant factor of the strength of a country. Mere possession of raw materials does not make a nation powerful. Much depends on the capacity of the state to exploit and utilise these resources. For example, U.S.A., Russia as well as India have coal and iron deposits, but lack of industrial capacity by India has been responsible for her comparative weak position. The country must have surplus production if it wants to become economically developed. Those nations whose industrial capacity is greater are considered economically developed and therefore powerful.

The decline of France as power in comparison to Germany after 1870 was due to her industrial backwardness, similarly. The Soviet Union became great power after she acquired top level industrial capacity and improved her capacity to wage nuclear war. Prof. Margenthau has emphasized the importance of economic development and the industrial capacity thus: "The technology of modern warfare and communications has made the overall development of heavy industries an indispensable element of national power. The quality and productive capacity of the industrial plant, to know how of the working man, the skill of the engineer, the inventive genius of the scientist, the managerial organization-all these are factors upon which the industrial capacity (economic development) of a nation and hence, its power depend."