Book launch: World War Trade: Conflict, Containment, and the Emergent World Trading Order @PetersonInstitute

Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

Globalization is not dying. It is being rebuilt. When the United States and China weaponized trade in 2025, many feared the collapse of the global economy. Markets plunged, supply chains fractured, and policymakers spoke openly of economic warfare. But the collapse never came.

In his new book, World War Trade, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, Richard Baldwin argues that the real story is not the conflict between superpowers but how the rest of the world responded. Through quiet restraint, strategic adaptation, and a wave of new trade agreements, countries representing the majority of global commerce prevented a 1930s-style breakdown. What has emerged is a new kind of globalization: less centralized, less US-led, but still deeply interconnected—a system shaped not by design but by the self-organizing forces of politics, economics, and necessity.

Following his presentation of his new book, Baldwin and Mary E. Lovely discuss new ways to understand global trade in an age of rivalry and a clear-eyed view of what comes next.

WELCOME REMARKS

Adam S. Posen
President, PIIE

MODERATOR

Mary E. Lovely
Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow, PIIE

PRESENTER

Richard Baldwin
Nonresident Senior Fellow, PIIE

For more information, visit: piie.com/events/2026/book-launch-world-war-trade-conflict-containment-and-emergent-world-trading-order

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$Book launch: World War Trade: Conflict, Containment, and the Emergent World Trading Order Globalization is not dying. It is being rebuilt. When the United States and China weaponized trade in 2025, many feared the collapse of the global economy. Markets plunged, supply chains fractured, and policymakers spoke openly of economic warfare. But the collapse never came. In his new book, World War Trade, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, Richard Baldwin argues that the real story is not the conflict between superpowers but how the rest of the world responded. Through quiet restraint, strategic adaptation, and a wave of new trade agreements, countries representing the majority of global commerce prevented a 1930s-style breakdown. What has emerged is a new kind of globalization: less centralized, less US-led, but still deeply interconnected—a system shaped not by design but by the self-organizing forces of politics, economics, and necessity. Following his presentation of his new book, Baldwin and Mary E. Lovely discuss new ways to understand global trade in an age of rivalry and a clear-eyed view of what comes next. WELCOME REMARKS Adam S. Posen President, PIIE MODERATOR Mary E. Lovely Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow, PIIE PRESENTER Richard Baldwin Nonresident Senior Fellow, PIIE For more information, visit: https://www.piie.com/events/2026/book-launch-world-war-trade-conflict-containment-and-emergent-world-trading-order Subscribe to receive notices of upcoming PIIE events: https://www.piie.com/subscribe Follow the Peterson Institute for International Economics on social media! Twitter: https://twitter.com/piie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/piie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/piie.com$

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