Free trade solves international conflict

Trade agreements are powerful tools to prevent international conflict and foster collaboration among nations. Instead of blaming them for America's wavering job market, policymakers must embrace them as tools that stabilize and pacify international politics. Free trade is a powerful peacekeeping force. The logic is simple: When a country's prosperity is dependent on trade with other nations, it is far less likely to get into wars that disrupt the flow of commerce. Instead, trading countries often opt for more peaceful methods of dispute settlement. The pacifying effect of increased trade is something philosophers like Immanuel Kant speculated about centuries ago. In our day, numerous empirical studies confirm the relationship. A study at the University of Texas, for example, examined an extensive array of countries from 1960 to 2000. It concluded that higher tariffs and other barriers to free trade increased a country's chances of international conflict. Conversely, countries with fewer trade barriers were less likely to invade or be invaded. Similarly, a Stanford University study found that from 1950 to 2000 war between countries was about one-10th that of the previous century. Unsurprisingly, global trade networks have grown almost fourfold since 1950. As the lead professor of the study, Matthew Jackson, put it, "Economic interest drives a lot of what goes on in terms of where nations are willing to exercise military strength." For more proof, look to Europe. When the European economy was in a shambles after World War II, nations formed the European Coal and Steel Community to create a common market for those essential commodities. Only part of the reason for doing so was economic, however. As the man who originally proposed the ECSC, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, clearly stated at the time, its purpose was to make war "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible." The six-member ECSC led directly to today's 28-member European Union, a remarkable model of how common economic interests can maintain peace. And despite the U.K.'s recent vote to leave the EU, the British government is wisely seeking to negotiate a trade deal that will keep goods and services moving freely. The United States, which has free trade agreements with 20 countries, has experienced firsthand the diplomatic benefits of open trade policies and the international cooperation they foster.