Conclusion: Dismissing the Kantian View of Trade and Peace

Abstract

‘Make trade, not war’ is a classical motto that, depending on the times, finds more or less debatable theoretical and empirical support. Trade negotiators and international relations people in general lend sophisticated support to this proposition by invoking Immanuel Kant’s modest short essay on perpetual peace, raised by many to the heights of a major work, to the great suspicion of experts on the Master of Königsberg.