Neoliberals argued that politicizing the economy, not capitalism, caused imperialism.

Evidence

Against Lenin’s claim that imperialism was a phenomenon of capitalism in its monopoly stage, the neoliberals argued that imperialism was a distortion of the peaceful economic relations of capitalism caused by the politicisation of the economy. The real cause of inter-state conflict and colonialism, they argued, was the erosion of the liberal distinction between sovereignty and property, which had made territorial control the necessary precondition for the utilisation of the natural resources of a country. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 434

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the conventional Marxist position the reader will know; connects to the ethics-of-markets debate framing. — connects to: Some neoliberals explicitly embraced empire as a model for global economic order. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 858; Neoliberals argued political meddling, not markets, causes war — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 256; Neoliberals blamed Rousseau’s popular sovereignty, not the state, for imperialism and totalitarianism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 282 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Imperialism is capitalism’s political drive for the remainders of the noncapitalist world #contradicts (0.80) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2224
• Capitalism depends on a noncapitalist world whose possession is imperialism’s core project #contradicts (0.75)