Economic interdependence essay

The various forms of international economic make up an intensive and complex system of global interdependence. The interlink ages between individual economies are too strong and the momentum of globalization too great for the process to be reversed.

Liberals argue that economic interdependence lowers the likelihood of war by increasing the value of trading over the alternative of aggression: interdependent states would rather trade than invade. As long as high levels of Dale C. Copelands AssistantProfessorn the Department f Governmentnd ForeignAffairsat the i i o a University f Virginia. o

Economic interdependence is strongest and most intricate among the countries of the industrialized world. It is by no means limited to these countries. The direct links between western industrialized economies and the Third World may still be less complex but they are, nonetheless, significant and two-way.

The theory starts by clarifying the notion of economic interdependence, fusing the liberal insight that the benefits of trade give states an incentive to avoid war with the realist view that the potential costs of being cut off can push states to war to secure vital goods.