Introduction

The ideas that shaped today’s globalized world were a response to the disastrous deglobalized world of the first half of the 20th century. Having seen how a closed and divided world economy contributed to economic depression, conflict and ultimately the Second World War, the post-war architects resolved to build an open and integrated world economy instead. Freer trade would deliver shared growth and development. Economic interdependence would give countries a stake in each other’s success. International rules and institutions would promote stability, trust and collaboration. The antidote to zero-sum economic nationalism was positivesum global economic cooperation.