The Liberal Illusion sheds light on an increasingly important question in international relations scholarship and policy making—whether international trade promotes peace. Finding only limited empirical support for the long-standing liberal hypothesis, Barbieri's conclusions depart from many in the field. The Liberal Illusion serves as an important counterargument and a warning call to policymakers who rely upon trade-based strategies to promote peace—strategies that appear to offer little hope of achieving their goals.
"Barbieri's analysis reveals the fundamental and intellectual weaknesses of the various arguments on this topic. [A] solid and timely contribution to the literature. . ."
—M. Veseth, University of Puget Sound, Choice, September 2003
". . . liberals and others will be scrutinizing her models and analyses in the years to come. Her work cannot be ignored."
—Nils Petter Gleditsch, Journal of Peace Research, Volume 40, No. 1 (2003)
"Barbieri builds on a solid foundation of work on trade and conflict and specifies the conditions under which trade reduces and increases conflict. . . . The bottom line is that this is an important book in the study of trade and conflict because of its comprehensive approach."
—Perspectives on Politics
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