Effect of Economic Interdependence on Foreign Relations: Implications for Linkage Diplomacy

摘要

Events of the late 1960s and early 1970s resulted in significant changes in the international system. According to numerous policy makers, these changes were at least in part due to increased economic interdependence. As a result, there ensued a proliferation of strategies linking the international economic and political arenas. Such linkage strategies were a prevalent feature of diplomacy during the Nixon/Ford administration, especially with regard to the concept of detente. Kissinger envisioned that the interrelationship of issues, as expressed in the linkage concept, would develop a network of vested interests between the United States and the Soviet Union and make both sides conscious of what they would lose by reverting to policies of confrontation and crisis. One important aspect of this linkage phenomenon is the economic component. This is reflected in the widespread belief that economic interdependence brings political and security benefits. Indeed during the Cold War, when contact between the United States and the USSR was severely limited, many argued that improved economic relations might mitigate international tensions, as evidenced by several Congressional resolutions to that effect. The question, according to Kissinger, was, 'How could trade and economic contact serve the purpose of peace' Given the apparent increased emphasis on linkage strategies to deal with the problems of the contemporary world and the importance of the economic component of this strategy, several policy questions result: Can we expect, ceteris paribus, expanded economic interaction and, therefore, presumably expanded economic interdependence, to contribute to closer and more cooperative relations between countries. If so, can economic levers be employed as policy instruments to increase economic interdependence and thus promote more conciliatory foreign policy. If so, how might this effect vary according to whether the target is a developed or less developed country.