Capitalist Peace: A History of American Free-Trade Internationalism

Capitalist Peace is a comprehensive history of modern America that argues that free trade has been an engine of US foreign policy and the key to global prosperity. It explores how exports, imports, tariffs, quotas, and trade deficits and surpluses are central to American foreign relations and how Washington, DC has viewed free trade as underscoring its international leadership and as instrumental to global prosperity. The book argues that free trade has been pursued at a cost to US producers and workers, whose interests were sacrificed to serve the purpose of grand strategy. It also shows how US power, interests, and values were projected into the international arena even as capitalism brought both positive and negative results to the global order.

Format: Hardback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 14 November 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

A comprehensive historical account of modern America contends that free trade has played a pivotal role in shaping US foreign policy and driving global prosperity. Surprisingly, exports, imports, tariffs, quotas, and trade deficits and surpluses have become integral to American foreign relations. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt assumed office during the Great Depression, the United States has consistently linked trade to its long-term diplomatic objectives and national security. Washington, DC, viewed free trade as a means to assert its international leadership and as a crucial factor in promoting global prosperity, securing victories in wars and peace, and shaping the liberal internationalist world order. In essence, free trade formed the foundation of an ideology of capitalist peace. Spanning nearly a century, "Capitalist Peace" offers a comprehensive examination of the interplay between trade and diplomacy. This policy has often come at the expense of US producers and workers, whose interests were sacrificed to serve the broader strategic goals. It is worth noting that capitalists sought a specific type of global trade that leveraged the market through free trade. This liberal trade policy aimed to serve the common good, as defined by the needs, aspirations, and strengths of both the capitalist and democratic worlds. Leaders believed that free trade fostered private enterprise, which, in turn, contributed to prosperity, democracy, security, and various by-products such as development, cooperation, integration, and human rights. The capitalist peace saw liberalization as an essential component of cooperation among nations and even as a moral imperative in global affairs. Drawing on extensive research from the presidential libraries of Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush, as well as archives from business/industry and civic associations, Thomas W. Zeiler presents this historical narrative in a compelling and accessible manner. The book traverses the road to World War II, shedding light on the complex dynamics that shaped the global economic and political landscape during this pivotal period.

Weight: 652g
Dimension: 240 x 165 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197621363