John Hobson develops a new theory of international change using a sociological approach, through a detailed examination of nineteenth-century trade regimes, and the efforts of the Great Powers to increase their military capabilities before the First World War through tariff protectionism. His analysis reveals the importance of the state as an autonomous, 'adaptive' actor in domestic and international politics and economics, which is not dependent upon dominant classes, economic interest groups, the world economy or the geopolitical system of states.