… is from pages 52-53 of Eamonn Butler’s new paper “The Psychology of Protectionism,” which is a chapter in the collection Free Trade in the Twenty-First Century (edited by Max Rangeley and Daniel Hannan, 2025):
Moreover, the imposition of protectionist controls in peacetime can also increase the possibility of war. Protectionist measures may be seen as unfriendly or even hostile, straining trade relationships and causing animosity, potentially leading to ‘tit-for-tat’ response measures, reduced cooperation, deterioration of diplomatic relations, military tensions, and open conflict.
Trading nations, being dependent on others for the supply of many of the goods they want and need, face obvious pressure to preserve good relations with their trading partners. The more that their citizens benefits from trade, the greater this pressure will be.
