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> Global trade as we know it is possible because since WWII the US Navy has, by policy, secured the ocean for all participants in the global economy. Was inter

> Global trade as we know it is possible because since WWII the US Navy has, by policy, secured the ocean for all participants in the global economy. Was international trade that hard before Pax Americana started ruling the waves after WW2 ? Did trade ships had to "run armed or with escorts" outside of time of war ?

wollsmoth 5y ago
I think piracy was a real problem for international shipping in the past. Now there are some areas with disputed territory where the US Navy does Freedom of Navigation Ops to keep trade running smoothly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_navigation#FONOPs_in_the_South_China_Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_navigation#FONOPs_i...
scottLobster 5y ago
Piracy was one of the drivers of the European empires. Said empires had largely solved the issue by sheer sea power in the early 20th century, but after WWII those empires were shattered financially (the Brits) or physically (everyone else). The US took up the mantle after WWII and drastically upped the scale of the protection/globalization offered/mandated. On the economic side Pax Americana also forced alliance participants to open their economies to greater international trade in exchange for that protection. The various power blocks that preceded the modern global order were far more economically insular, a world we seem to be reverting to, for better or worse. Also wars were more common the further back you go. As we're discovering today global supply chains are way more vulnerable to conflict. In a globalized economy, if Iran goes to war with Saudi Arabia the first thing to get sunk is all the oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, and the primary global energy source goes out. So for a globalized economy to work those tankers have to be sacrosanct. That's one reason the US kept an Aircraft carrier parked in the Persian Gulf for decades and made nice with the Saudis, it secured the global energy supply and thus the anti-Soviet alliance. But with the US being de-facto energy independent thanks to shale and the Soviets long gone, we no longer have any reason to stick around. It'll be interesting to see if the French or British restore some neo-version of their old middle eastern or North African empires as a result in the coming decades.

wollsmoth 5y ago

I think piracy was a real problem for international shipping in the past. Now there are some areas with disputed territory where the US Navy does Freedom of Navigation Ops to keep trade running smoothly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_navigation#FONOPs_in_the_South_China_Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_navigation#FONOPs_i...

scottLobster 5y ago

Piracy was one of the drivers of the European empires. Said empires had largely solved the issue by sheer sea power in the early 20th century, but after WWII those empires were shattered financially (the Brits) or physically (everyone else). The US took up the mantle after WWII and drastically upped the scale of the protection/globalization offered/mandated. On the economic side Pax Americana also forced alliance participants to open their economies to greater international trade in exchange for that protection. The various power blocks that preceded the modern global order were far more economically insular, a world we seem to be reverting to, for better or worse. Also wars were more common the further back you go. As we're discovering today global supply chains are way more vulnerable to conflict. In a globalized economy, if Iran goes to war with Saudi Arabia the first thing to get sunk is all the oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, and the primary global energy source goes out. So for a globalized economy to work those tankers have to be sacrosanct. That's one reason the US kept an Aircraft carrier parked in the Persian Gulf for decades and made nice with the Saudis, it secured the global energy supply and thus the anti-Soviet alliance. But with the US being de-facto energy independent thanks to shale and the Soviets long gone, we no longer have any reason to stick around. It'll be interesting to see if the French or British restore some neo-version of their old middle eastern or North African empires as a result in the coming decades.