# Defending Globalization: Foreign Affairs 

September 2023 

![Defending Globalization - Foreign Policy - Schoolchildren](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_3x/public/2023-08/dg-foreignpolicy.png?itok=ulfrfBpg) 

#### Essays 

5-part series 

- [![American flag in front of a wall and flags of other countries](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/GettyImages-867003362.jpg?itok=iPKq3MrU)](https://www.cato.org/publications/dangers-misunderstanding-economic-interdependence) 

##### [The Dangers of Misunderstanding Economic Interdependence](/publications/dangers-misunderstanding-economic-interdependence) 

By Daniel W. Drezner
- [![Background of the Chinese flag with a downward graph among the cityscape of some chinese buildings.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/GettyImages-1341935407.jpg?itok=vj88InKK)](https://www.cato.org/publications/chinas-economic-headwinds) 

##### [China’s Economic Headwinds](/publications/chinas-economic-headwinds) 

By [Clark Packard](https://www.cato.org/people/clark-packard)
- [![Chinese flag Shanghai](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-10/china-post-1978.png?itok=cHByORfL)](https://www.cato.org/publications/chinas-post-1978-economic-development-entry-global-trading-system) 

##### [China’s Post-1978 Economic Development and Entry into the Global Trading System](/publications/chinas-post-1978-economic-development-entry-global-trading-system) 

By [James A. Dorn](https://www.cato.org/people/james-dorn)
- [![Global Trade](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-04/global-trade.jpg?itok=3ROO1xDh)](https://www.cato.org/publications/global-supply-chains) 

##### The World Factory: Production and Trade Along Global Supply Chains 

By Alfredo Carrillo Obregon 

Coming soon
- [![Refugees fleeing conflict make their way to the Polish border in March 2022 in Krakovets, Ukraine. ](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/ukrainian-refugees.jpg?itok=dvtLv6gw)](https://www.cato.org/publications/migration) 

##### Understanding Global Migration 

By Anna Maria Mayda 

Coming soon

Today, globalization—especially the U.S.-Chinese relationship—is frequently discussed in terms of foreign policy instead of economics. Policymakers often propose new subsidies or restrictions on trade and immigration to protect not local workers or companies but “national security.” Global supply chains are often said to raise concerns about the defense industrial base’s “dependency” on overseas suppliers and “vulnerabilities” to foreign threats.

Too often, however, discussions of globalization and foreign affairs simplistically (and erroneously) portray cross-border trade and migration as raising only threats. They ignore the more complicated reality of how globalization can also *enhance* national security, how trade agreements and immigration can advance geopolitical objectives, or where foreign allies and adversaries really stand today (and how they got there).

The essays in this Defending Globalization series will educate readers on the intersection of globalization and foreign affairs in brief, accessible language written by experts in the field. Readers will be left with a fuller understanding of what scholars know about globalization, security, and geopolitics in the United States and key foreign countries.

[Return to Defending Globalization](/defending-globalization) 

##### About the Authors 

[![Clark Packard Square headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-03/ClarkPackard_sq2.jpg?itok=6QwVlh1V)](/people/clark-packard) 

##### [Clark Packard](/people/clark-packard)

Research Fellow, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/clark_packard) [ 

](mailto:cpackard@cato.org) 

![Daniel W. Drezner](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-09/Drezner2.jpeg?itok=9pl3IgCn) 

##### Daniel W. Drezner 

Professor of International Politics, Tufts University

[![James A. Dorn](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/James%20dorn.jpg?itok=1oA5x7PP)](/people/james-dorn) 

##### [James A. Dorn](/people/james-dorn)

Senior Fellow Emeritus

[ 

](mailto:jdorn@cato.org) 

![Anna Maria Mayda](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-07/anna-mayda.jpeg?itok=W3eHCPij) 

##### Anna Maria Mayda 

Associate Professor, Economics, Georgetown University

[![Alfredo Carrillo Obregon Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-05/Alfredo%20Carrillo%20Obregon%20Cropped.jpg?itok=KAEODEP0)](/people/alfredo-carrillo-obregon) 

##### [Alfredo Carrillo Obregon](/people/alfredo-carrillo-obregon)

Policy Analyst, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/AlfredCObregon)