A Civilizing Force

By George A. Pieler, IPI senior fellow, and Jens F. Laurson, editor-in-chief of the International Affairs Forum

Openness to trade is, and always had been, a hallmark of civilization’s advance.   Trade is where wealth is created, and trade is where nations and cultures meet . Without commerce across borders, the human race breaks down along tribal, ethnic, and political lines.   Trade, more than any other force, is the basis of civilization – and so it is the basis for our modern civilization.

Now, some may not like “modern civilization” all that much, or at least some aspects of it.   A more tightly integrated world economy makes it a lot easier to blame foreigners for job losses, unfair competition, and the homogenization of cultures.   These are essentially the complaints of the anti-globalization movement.   But even anti-globalizers, like the Seattle protesters of ’99, know to harness trade to their own ends, not stop it. Trade is such a powerful force that activists know the smart strategy is to lard up trade agreements with extraneous restrictions on market activity , exporting new regulations along with each trade-opening deal.

When the economy’s humming along, free trade can handle a bit of regulatory baggage and still do its job of creating economic opportunity worldwide.   When it’s not (like right now), that extra regulatory baggage is very risky indeed.  

Too much of a risk.   For human progress in the 21 st century, we need more trade and more openness to trade, even if we have to go it alone.   The alternative would be real (albeit heterogeneous) suffering and hardship here and abroad. It’s no coincidence that openness to trade correlates strongly with resistance to home-grown terror, the most sinister face of the anti-globalization movement.