Economic Interdependence

Perhaps democracy’s economic system causes peace.

Takeaway Points

1. States that trade together tend not to fight each other.
2. Conflict prevents states from trading with each other.
3. Trade is mutually beneficial.
4. Thus, two states that trade with each other find war more costly than states that do not trade with each other.
5. We call this the economic interdependence.
6. Democracy leads to capitalist economic systems, which in turn leads to peace. Therefore, the democratic peace might just be a statistical artifact of economic interdependence.