Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull, President Roosevelt’s Secretary of State, was a democrat who advocated for international trade cooperation. He believed that “you could not separate the idea of commerce from the idea of war and peace…[and] that wars were often largely caused by economic rivalry conducted unfairly” [1]. He believed in this idea due to the accumulation of his empirical evidence regarding the First World War. After 12 years of being Secretary of State, he “embraced the philosophy [that] unhampered trade dovetailed with peace; high tariffs, trade barriers, and unfair economic competition, with war” [2]. He believed that the liberalization of trade would promote peacekeeping in the international system because people who rely on each other for the trade of goods and services, will generally not try to anger their trade partners, because this would hinder their potential means of exchanging goods. He backs up his idea by saying that a “freer flow of trade-freer in the sense of fewer discriminations and obstructions…the living standards of all countries might rise, thereby eliminating the economic dissatisfaction that breeds war” and this would give us “a reasonable chance for lasting peace” [3]. He maintained this idea throughout the 20’s and 30’s and spoke publically about this opinion in 1937, “I have never faltered and I will never falter, in my belief that enduring peace and the welfare of nations are indissolubly connected with friendliness, fairness, equality and maximum practicable degree of freedom in international trade”[4]. Hull was an idealist in this sense, but he was extremely loyal to his beliefs and opinions and was extremely consistent with his trust that the economic cooperation among states would promote prosperity and peace.
- ↑ Irwin, Douglas A., Petros C. Mavroidis, and Alan O. Sykes. The Genesis of the GATT. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Introduction, 1.1-1.3, 1.7-1.8, 1.12. p 13.
- ↑ Irwin, Douglas A., Petros C. Mavroidis, and Alan O. Sykes. The Genesis of the GATT. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Introduction, 1.1-1.3, 1.7-1.8, 1.12. p 13.
- ↑ Irwin, Douglas A., Petros C. Mavroidis, and Alan O. Sykes. The Genesis of the GATT. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Introduction, 1.1-1.3, 1.7-1.8, 1.12. p 13.
- ↑ Irwin, Douglas A., Petros C. Mavroidis, and Alan O. Sykes. The Genesis of the GATT. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Introduction, 1.1-1.3, 1.7-1.8, 1.12. p 14.
