# Defending Globalization: Law and Politics September 2023 ![Defending Globalization - Cover Image - Law & Politics Smiling Judge](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_3x/public/2023-08/dg-lawpolitics_0.png?itok=ox2-UzPJ) #### Essays 6-part series - [![NAFTA Initialing Ceremony, October 1992 From left to right (standing) President Salinas, President Bush, Prime Minister Mulroney (Seated) Jaime Serra Puche, Carla Hills, Michael Wilson.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/GettyImages-515305916.jpg?itok=oJQDw_Fm)](https://www.cato.org/publications/why-do-we-need-trade-agreements-all) ##### [Why Do We Need Trade Agreements at All?](/publications/why-do-we-need-trade-agreements-all) By [Simon Lester](https://www.cato.org/people/simon-lester) - [![World Trade Organization OMC](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/WTO.jpg?itok=3BX3lYlR)](https://www.cato.org/publications/world-trade-organization-myths-versus-reality) ##### [The World Trade Organization: Myths versus Reality](/publications/world-trade-organization-myths-versus-reality) By [James Bacchus](https://www.cato.org/people/james-bacchus) - [![Silhouette of people with speech bubbles](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/GettyImages-1399216490.jpg?itok=ybuzAfW6)](https://www.cato.org/publications/what-do-americans-really-think-about-globalization) ##### What Do Americans Really Think about Globalization? By Emily Ekins and Scott Lincicome Coming soon - [![President Reagan in the Rose Garden signing the Canada United States Free Trade Agreement FTA with James Baker Clayton Yeutter and Allan Gotlieb looking on.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/President_Ronald_Reagan_in_The_Rose_Garden_Signing_The_Canada_United_States_Free_Trade_Agreement_C49504-9.jpg?itok=dmDpAbRk)](https://www.cato.org/publications/the-conservative-case-for-globalization) ##### [The Conservative Case for Globalization](/publications/the-conservative-case-for-globalization) By [Jeb Hensarling](https://www.cato.org/people/jeb-hensarling) - [![Franklin Roosevelt Signing the Emergency Banking Act, 1993.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2023-09/GettyImages-515142032.jpg?itok=zvdhdbeG)](https://www.cato.org/publications/the-progressive-case-for-globalization) ##### [The Progressive Case for Globalization](/publications/the-progressive-case-for-globalization) By [Inu Manak](https://www.cato.org/people/inu-manak) and Helena Kopans-Johnson - [![Global](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/mega_menu_aside/public/2024-06/Global-Government-Cropped.jpg?itok=v3rKN96-)](https://www.cato.org/publications/cosmopolitan-case-against-world-government) ##### [A Cosmopolitan Case against World Government](/publications/cosmopolitan-case-against-world-government) By [Ilya Somin](https://www.cato.org/people/ilya-somin) Although humans have engaged in long-distance commerce for millennia, modern globalization has inevitably become intertwined with national governments and international organizations. Numerous domestic laws regulate trade, migration, and capital flows. Governments enter into bilateral and multilateral agreements to liberalize trade among them, lock in these commitments, and establish venues for resolving disputes over subsequent cross-border transactions and domestic policies that affect them. And, given the role of government in modern trade and immigration policy, globalization and its effects are a frequent topic in politics and elections, especially today. Far too often, however, trade laws and agreements—and what voters think of them and globalization more broadly—are misunderstood, with potentially serious consequences for politics and policy. The essays in this Defending Globalization series will educate readers on the law and politics of globalization in brief, accessible language written by experts in the field. Readers will be left with a fuller understanding of what scholars know about globalization, trade laws and agreements, and the politics of globalization in the United States. [Return to Defending Globalization](/defending-globalization) ##### About the Authors [![James Bacchus - cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-04/jim_baccuhus-cropped.jpg?itok=sQTKwZ3_)](/people/james-bacchus) ##### [James Bacchus](/people/james-bacchus) Adjunct Scholar, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute; Former Chairman, Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization [![Emily Ekins](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Emily%20Ekins.jpg?itok=O6P9UmCC)](/people/emily-ekins) ##### [Emily Ekins](/people/emily-ekins) Vice President for Policy and Society, Cato Institute [ ](https://x.com/emilyekins) [![Jeb Hensarling](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-08/jeb-hensarling.jpg?itok=cDcUvjul)](/people/jeb-hensarling) ##### [Jeb Hensarling](/people/jeb-hensarling) Economics Fellow, Cato Institute; Former Chairman, House Financial Services Committee [![Simon Lester](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Simon%20Lester.jpg?itok=noQ9immh)](/people/simon-lester) ##### [Simon Lester](/people/simon-lester) Cofounder, World​TradeLaw​.net, and Former Legal Affairs Officer, Appellate Body Secretariat, World Trade Organization [![Scott Lincicome cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-10/scott-lincicome-square.jpg?itok=qnTH2GB_)](/people/scott-lincicome) ##### [Scott Lincicome](/people/scott-lincicome) Vice President, General Economics and Stiefel Trade Policy Center, Cato Institute [ ](https://x.com/scottlincicome) [ ](mailto:slincicome@cato.org) [![Inu Manak](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Inu%20Manuk.jpg?itok=8bgu-vN2)](/people/inu-manak) ##### [Inu Manak](/people/inu-manak) Fellow for Trade Policy, Council on Foreign Relations [ ](https://twitter.com/inumanak) [![ilya-somin-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-04/ilya-somin-cropped.jpg?itok=J1IxBVI7)](/people/ilya-somin) ##### [Ilya Somin](/people/ilya-somin) Professor of Law, George Mason University, and B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute [ ](https://x.com/ilyasomin)