Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

Soft Interdependence and Conflict

Open to the Public

Most research linking interdependence and conflict implicitly assumes that the relationship is driven by the relative costs and benefits of trade and war. This article challenges that assumption by arguing that the pacifying effect of interdependence is generated by the psychological closeness and familiarity that frequent contact between societies engenders, rather than the cost that its absence would impose. The speaker terms this deeper product of societal interaction "soft interdependence" in order to differentiate it from the hard rationality of arguments based on the economic costs of conflict.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Taubman Building - Kalb Seminar Room, Room 275
Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, shakes hands with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf during the welcoming ceremony for the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Beijing, China, Nov. 4, 2006.

About

Most research linking interdependence and conflict implicitly assumes that the relationship is driven by the relative costs and benefits of trade and war. This article challenges that assumption by arguing that the pacifying effect of interdependence is generated by the psychological closeness and familiarity that frequent contact between societies engenders, rather than the cost that its absence would impose. The speaker terms this deeper product of societal interaction "soft interdependence" in order to differentiate it from the hard rationality of arguments based on the economic costs of conflict. Empirical tests with data on transit, migration, and cultural linkages, which capture the depth of societal interactions better than import and export data alone, provide preliminary support for the soft interdependence hypothesis. This approach brings clarity to the understanding of the relationship between interdependence and conflict by unifying previously contradictory findings and demonstrating that soft interdependence is a powerful indicator of international peace. The speaker concludes that previous models of interdependence and conflict are underspecified and that policymakers can err by relying too heavily on the blunt instruments of trade and sanctions while ignoring the deeper interdependencies between states.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.