COOPERATION OR CONFLICT - THE EUROPEAN UNION IN A LIBERAL GLOBAL ECONOMY

The author contests the orthodox view that conflicts between the narro w interests of individual states, on the one hand, and an orderly glob al trading system, on the other, are bound to arise frequently. He ide ntifies the roots of this view in the mercantilist approach to economi c interaction among states that has dominated the classic internationa l relations perspective on trade, and shows how the justification for the mercantilist stance is founded on a false equivalence of the inter ests of the state with the interests of individuals. Contrasting merca ntilism with liberalism, he argues that the EU's international liberal ism, as evidenced by its development of the single market, is in sharp contrast to its mercantilist policy towards all beyond its borders.