While today’s global trade war may seem like a radical break from the established system of inter-state relations, history shows that states have been fighting trade wars as long as there have been states, trade, and war. The current rivalry between the United States and China is among the most pressing contemporary issues that may define international relations for the next decade. Craig VanGrasstek’s On Trade War explains the theory and practice of trade war, placing the current conflict in an analytical framework that provides insights from history, political science, economics, and law. Pioneering a new way of examining trade and military relations between states, VanGrasstek’s analysis identifies patterns from past trade wars that may shape our future.
About the Speaker
Craig VanGrasstek has taught trade policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the American University’s School of International Service, as well as literature at Georgetown University. He wrote the World Trade Organization’s official history and Trade and American Leadership. He ‘keeps a sharp eye on the politics of trade,’ according to The Economist, and has advised international organizations and national governments in more than four dozen countries on five continents.
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