The Great Illusion, Redux looks at old and new theories of globalization and peace:
You can thank globalization for our dawning Age of Aquarius. As national economies weave ever deeper into the fabric of international trade, as multi-national corporations source components and manpower from diverse corners of the globe, as cooperation nets more than competition, our glorious dawn sweeps the war-like nations into the dust bin of history.At least, that’s the theory. And it’s one that is enjoying a robust hearing of late. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s new book, The World is Flat, is devoted to just such a thesis. If globalization-as-national pacifier sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve heard it before.
In 1913, the British economist Norman Angell published a widely celebrated book arguing that in an age of interconnected international trade and enmeshed national economies, war was quickly becoming an expensive anachronism. Angell reasoned that thanks to deepening economic ties among powers, war would cost the aggressors more than any hoped-for gains. States, appraising this calculus, would conclude that war was not a worthy option. Global peace ensues.
The book’s title was grimly ironic, The Great Illusion.