What the realist image of international relations comes down to as a theoretical perspective of the global political economy is that it presumes that nation-states approach the political economy with political self-interest paramount and instrumental in achieving national goals, with national goals being filtered through a calculus of power vis-à-vis other nation-states. With power as the chief political concern, it follows that political benefit, or power, would translate into economic benefit, and that any benefit a nation-state might enjoy in the geopolitical arena would come at the expense of benefits and power of other nation-states. As Frieden and Lake explain, "Realists perceive politics as determining economics" (1996, p. 31). Accordingly, where the issue of free trade is concerned, the Realist position would be that the nation-state would seek to minimize its own liability for tariffs or other fees on goods that it exported, while attempting to levy tariffs or other fees on goods that it imports, so as to protect the ability of domestic makers of similar goods to compete with foreign goods on price, hence shore up its domestic economy and demonstrate its ability to manipulate trade: "Trade protection--which might reduce a country's overall income by restricting the market--may be adopted for reasons of national political power" (Frieden & Lake, 1996, p. 31).
One of the foundational American articulations of the Realist position on economic development in an international context is Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures, which advocates government subsidization of entrepreneurial efforts with a view toward lending the US international prestige (1996). In an effort to build the national economy of the new country, Hamilton calls for protectionist duties on goods that would discourage development of domestic manufacturing, itself a Realist position. Hamilton also specifically calls for "encouragement of new invention...