This paper examines the credentials of the realist approach to international political economy as explanatory theory of postwar US trade policy. It argues that the realist link between international structure, US national trade interest and policy outcome is not strong. Empirical anomalies are...

In a few years, the United States has gone from worrying about Japan's economic might to worrying about its meltdown. The rise and fall of America's 'results-oriented' trade policy towards Japan captures this turnaround. John Kunkel traces this Japan policy to a crisis in the institutions, laws...