Trading for Security: Evolving Nationalist Influences on U.S. Global Trade Policy traces nationalist effects on U.S. trade policy from the early republic to the present. Nineteenth century American leaders argued for an isolationist foreign policy and import barriers to help domestic producers. In the twentieth century, the U.S. emerged as a major economic power with growing international needs, and leaders contemplated more international involvement. The Great Depression, World War II, and a post-war communist threat led to new alliances such as NATO, trade-oriented international institutions, and to regional trade deals that used commerce to encourage cooperation with the U.S. Domestically, opposition to expanded imports was muted by laws allowing businesses and workers to petition for protection and/or to receive a federal aid package known as trade adjustment assistance. By the year 2000, rapid Chinese economic development and expanded exports from the Far East produced such severe competition for U.S. businesses that neo-isolationist calls for import restrictions emerged and helped elect a trade skeptic as president. The result has been tariffs, calls for reconsidering foreign commitments, and ongoing debates about America's role in the world.

JohnM.Rothgeb,Jr.isprofessorinthePoliticalScienceDepartmentatMiamiUniversityin Oxford, Ohio.