When Adam Smith wrote "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" in 1776, the industrial revolution had entered its second decade and the relationship between nations and their wealth was still relatively straightforward.
Wealthy nations built empires. Empire-building nations became wealthy. National wealth was put to use within national borders, or at least within the borders of their respective empires, to further the causes of industrialization and yet more wealth creation.
Wealth creation remains a fundamental concern of nations to this day. That said though, it seems increasingly to be more a question of what to do with the wealth rather than how to create it. For sovereign wealth funds are all the rage now.