Trade and Conflict: Trends in Economic Nationalism, Unilateralism and Protectionism

This book aims to reframe the broader debate on the recent globalization backlash and its implications for middle-powers such as Canada.

Protectionists have been accused of unraveling the multilateralist world order. The United States pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and a series of tariffs imposed by both the United States and China threaten global economic integration. Fierce protectionist rhetoric risks gridlocking a fragile trade system that faces rising discontent, especially in light of the recent globalization backlash. American geopolitical hostilities are also influencing trade policies, notably punitive tariff and trade sanctions. Meanwhile, these fears are not limited to trade. The ongoing challenge to American hegemony and rising globalization backlash are dangerous signals of economic unpredictability that could perilously escalate towards outright conflict. This edited volume, then, tackles the trends of rising economic nationalism, unilateralism and protectionism to shed light on these vital foreign policy issues.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal.