At least since 1750 when Baron de Montesquieu declared “peace is the natural effect of trade,” a number of economists … and political scientists espoused the notion that trade among nations leads to peace. Employing resources more efficiently … comparative advantage leads to gains from trade. If political conflict leads to a diminution of trade, then at least a portion of …

The literature has paid very little attention to a potential positive endogenous nexus between trade globalization and … the gravity trade theory, using data from a sample of 134 IMF countries over the pe- riod 1974-1998. An extensive search … shows that trade globalization dampens political liberalization, though political liberalization fosters trade globalization …