The Great Power Show: Can Anyone Actually Win a Trade War?

A couple of weeks ago, Manoj finished a new book called How to Win a Trade War: A Friendly Guide to an Unfriendly World. The title alone tells you something about the moment we’re living through—a world in which economic interdependence, once celebrated as the foundation of peace and prosperity, is increasingly seen as a source of vulnerability. Tariffs are back, sanctions are multiplying, export controls are spreading, and governments are subsidizing with remarkable enthusiasm.

For those of us who came of age in the 1990s, this is a striking shift. We grew up convinced that globalization was inevitable, that trade would bind countries together, and that economics and politics could be kept largely apart. That confidence has evaporated. Economics has become geopolitics by other means.

The book’s authors take on this transformation with a rare combination of analytical rigor, wit, and accessibility. So, when he had the chance to speak with one of them, Manoj wanted to go beyond the headlines. Why did the old model of globalization begin to unravel? What do policymakers actually mean by economic security? Are trade wars ever winnable? And how should countries like India navigate a world where the United States controls many of the global economy’s financial and technological arteries while China dominates its industrial ones?

That’s what this conversation is about. Manoj Kewalramani's guest herein is Chad Bown who is the co-author of How to Win a Trade War. They spoke about the changing nature of globalization, the rise of economic statecraft, the deepening competition between the US and China, and what the future holds for the rest of us caught somewhere in between.

Access the full podcast here on Substack

(Also available on Spotify and Apple)