During the last few decades, globalization and protectionism have ebbed and flowed from time to time among economies. The movements demand that we develop formal analytics that can help countries make better trade policies. The movements also imply that the best trade policies are time-varying and country-specific. Economies and their imports and exports constitute a counterbalanced network where conflict and cooperation are two sides of the same coin of the global economy . A country could improve its relative strength in the interactive network by embracing globalization, protectionism, or a trade war . This paper provides necessary conditions for globalization and trade wars, evaluates their side effects, identifies the right targets for conflict  , and recommends a fair resolution for a trade war. Data from 2018 show that trade wars could be an option for the USA to maintain its competitiveness. However, adverse side effects on third parties could be significant. Nevertheless, whether the USA should engage in protectionism depends on its bargaining power .
During the past few decades, globalization and protectionism have ebbed and flowed from time to time among economies. The movements demand formal analytics that can help countries make better trade policies. They also imply that the best trade policies could be time-varying and country-specific. Economies and their imports and exports constitute a counterbalanced network where conflict and cooperation are two sides of the same coin . A country could improve its relative strength in the network by embracing globalization, protectionism, or trade wars . This paper provides necessary conditions for globalization and trade wars, evaluates their side effects, identifies the right targets for conflict or collaboration , and recommends fair resolutions for trade wars. Data and events from the past twenty years support these conditions .
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last
past
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that we develop
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The movements
They
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are
could be
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of the global economy
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interactive
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a trade war
trade wars
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or collaboration
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a fair resolution for a trade war. Data from 2018 show that trade wars could be an option for the USA to maintain its competitiveness. However, adverse side effects on third parties could be significant. Nevertheless, whether the USA should engage in protectionism depends on its bargaining power
fair resolutions for trade wars. Data and events from the past twenty years support these conditions