This volume is a major historical contribution to the enduring debate about whether trade makes peace more likely. In nine detailed historical case studies - spread over 500 years and spanning the globe - the contributors explore the dynamic between trade and conflict and examine the consequences of their intersection, direct and indirect, immediate and long term, anticipated and unexpected, transformative and destructive. The contributors break new ground by collectively showing that trade and conflict have been reciprocally constitutive: trade sparks conflict and conflict in turn provokes the adaptation of trade. Scholars who affirm a close association between trade and peace will have to take into account the close and persistent connection between trade and conflict, as will the makers of current trade policy.

This book explains the causes and consequences of the intersection of two transformative global forces - trade and conflict - since 1500. The nine historical case studies - interspersed over 500 years and spanning the globe - make a major historical contribution to the enduring debate about whether trade makes peace more likely.