GATT and Global Order in the Postwar Era

After the Second World War, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) promoted trade liberalization to help make the world prosperous and peaceful. Francine McKenzie uses case studies of the Cold War, the creation of the EEC and other regional trade agreements, development, and agriculture, to show that trade is a primary goal of foreign policy, a dominant (and divisive) aspect of international relations, and a vital component of global order. She unpacks the many ways in which trade was politicised, and the layers of meaning associated with trade; trade policies, as well as disputes about trade, communicated ideas, hopes and fears that were linked to larger questions of identity, sovereignty, and status. This study reveals how the economic and political dimensions of foreign policy and international engagement intersected, showing that trade was not only instrumentalised in the service of particular policies or relations but that it was also an essential aspect of international relations.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: GATT in World Affairs; 1. Accidental Organization: Origins and Early Years of GATT; 2. 'An Arrow in the Western World's Quiver': The Cold War Challenge to GATT; 3. 'Take It or Leave It': The EEC Challenge to GATT; 4. 'Spread Like the Plague': The Regional Challenge to GATT; 5. 'Rich Man's Club': The Development Challenge to GATT; 6. 'Agricultural Anarchy': The Agriculture Challenge to GATT; Conclusion: The Embattled History of GATT.

About the Author :
Francine McKenzie is a Professor at the University of Western Ontario. She is an international historian who has published extensively on international cooperation, trade, and global order. Her publications include Redefining the Bonds of Commonwealth, 1939-1948 (2002), A Global History of Trade and Conflict since 1500 (2013) and Dominion of Race: Rethinking Canada's International History (2017).

Review :
'With trade protectionism on the rise today, it is vitally important to understand the origins of the post-World War II trading system. Francine McKenzie has written an insightful and illuminating study on the difficult past of the GATT that will be of great interest to historians, economists, and political scientists alike.' Douglas Irwin, Dartmouth College 'GATT as 'the 'Cinderella of international organizations'? McKenzie's innovative study of GATT situates international trade in global politics and reminds us why the history of economics on an international scale matters. As the clock moves closer to midnight, GATT and Global Order helps us understand the paradoxes of the twentieth century international economic order, and how difficult it is to disentangle the fiscal tenets of asymmetrical globalization from the established virtues of international cooperation.' Glenda Sluga, University of Sydney/ European University Institute 'This bold book brings into one place the issues, events, debates, policies, and people of the GATT during its half-century history. This is both a survey and an in-depth, multi-archival examination of a major institution – a truly amazing undertaking with results that are oftentimes breath-taking in their scope.' Tom Zeiler, University of Colorado Boulder 'International historian Francine McKenzie has consulted numerous primary sources around the world, as well as secondary sources, to write an account of this important trade policy institution. Organized around four broad themes - the Cold War, regionalism, development, and agriculture - the study shows and analyses what negotiators and policy makers thought, behind the often bland or triumphant compromise public statements.' James Foreman-Peck, EH.net (Economic History Association)