Capital export once protected by power made expansion a permanent function of the nation-state

Evidence

Foreign investments, capital export which had started as an emergency measure, became a permanent feature of all economic systems as soon as it was protected by export of power. The imperialist concept of expansion, according to which expansion is an end in itself and not a temporary means, made its appearance in political thought when it had become obvious that one of the most important permanent functions of the nation-state would be expansion of power. The state-employed administrators of violence soon formed a new class within the nations and, although their field of activity was far away from the mother country, wielded an important influence on the body politic at home. Since they were actually nothing but functionaries of violence they could only think in terms of power politics. They were the first who, as a class and supported by their everyday experience, would claim that power is the essence of every political structure. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 372

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the imperialist concept of expansion as an end in itself, distinguishing it from temporary economic measures.
• XREF: Connects to how modern bureaucracy and power politics in the state are analyzed in later Islamophobia readings; also parallels Milgrom’s trade-institution work where economic needs reshaped political structures.