The organic analogy and theories of surplus value discussed in the previous chapters were the basis of Hobson's holistic and evolutionary framework for his analysis of international relations. Utilising the organic and surplus concepts, Hobson created a novel approach to international relations, the pinnacle of which was a new liberal internationalism, his conception of an emergent world society being forged by international co-operation and organisation.

The holistic aspect of the framework, the application of the organic analogy to all humanity and international relations, is investigated first. Hobson's world was not made up of interacting states but was rather a network of individuals, groups and communities within a single world society. He also considered nations from an organic perspective, both nationally and globally. The second section delimits four types of international system in Hobson's writings on international relations. They constitute the evolutionary framework, linked together by the logic of co-operative and unproductive surpluses.

AN ORGANIC PERSPECTIVE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Hobson viewed international relations as one facet of a society of all mankind. This perspective was clearly internationalist, reflecting ‘the idea that we both are and should be part of a broader community than that of the nation or the state’. For Hobson:

Internationalism, as a policy of peace and progress, demands that the individual feelings of goodwill which give substance to the smaller groupings, from family to nation, shall be so extended that the single citizen of England, America, Germany, France, Russia, shall supersede the governments of these countries as units of internationalism.