Koehene here is talking with an international perspective in mind. He is true, hegemons create institutions to foster their national interests abroad. but you might want to look at what specific institutions he is talking about. when it comes to protecting national interest in the form of political and economic security, he is talking about creating institutions that sustain or expand these interests- like military, monetary (USAID), etc., not necessarily institutions that foster a civil society at the domestic level. You are right to.. on this one, but foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy, and whether at the international level or at the domestic level, you cannot even for a moment seperate economics and politics. That's why when Chanakya wrote his book on statecraft 2200 years ago, he called it "arthashashtra". But if you still insist that economcis and politics are seperable and we can understand either of them independently, then I have no problems with it.. different people, different opinions.