Without a definite beginning and with no foreseeable end, international trade is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing phenomena of the 21st century. Perhaps the origins of international trade lie in the Industrial Revolution that began in Great Britain, when production shifted from agriculture to manufacturing. Western European countries started to rely on trade to provide raw materials for production. A gradual move to "freer" trade followed; countries gradually reduced tariffs and opened up their markets to the world after Britain's historic 1846 repeal of its Corn Laws. Since then, international trade has undoubtedly had its ups—Bretton Woods institutional formations, successful tariff reductions in WTO meetings—and its downs—the Asian financial crisis and the Arab oil embargo. But where do we go from here?

Many have argued that globalization and international trade are indisputable facts; the question now is no longer "should we trade?" but "how should we trade?" Such scholars point to the rapid influx of new technologies that level the economic playing field and to the new venues of communication that allow states and corporations to be more connected than ever before. Others point to the idea of free trade itself as a stimulant; partly due to the influence of Adam Smith's seminal work The Wealth of Nations, policymakers were moved to implement laissez-faire policies that reaped the benefits of comparative advantage and maximized state's resources.

If international trade is accepted as inevitable, how can it and its future best be understood? Academics have long sought to understand its multifaceted implications. Some optimists believe that adding new dimensions to international trade will lead to the obsolescence of war, because conquering another state by force will cease to be advantageous. Most resources are now in markets, and so nations find cooperation to be in their best interest rather than conquest. Others believe that international trade will have a profound impact in forming systems of governance. These theorists expect free market ideas, including international trade, to lead to liberal democratic states to maximize economic efficiency and the accumulation of wealth. Still others believe international trade has significant social implications, including the popularly titled "culture exportation" or convergence of domestic norms.

But even after the results of international trade are examined on a basic level, several distinct questions remain. If international trade is an inevitable endpoint, can the transition process we are in today be expedited, and should it be? What agents can promote international trade? Traditionalists have pointed to the state in bilateral, multilateral, or regional trade agreements, while others think that the agents of change should be non-state actors such as multinational corporations or international political institutions like the World Trade Organization. Should this movement to international trade be regulated, and if so, by whom? Will these regulations degenerate into political maneuverings, or are the concerns—human rights, environmental standards, intellectual property rights—legitimate?

Within the context of the drastic movement to freer trade over the last decade, our symposium asks these questions and others. Should international trade be accepted as inevitable? How can its profound impact best be understood? Is it a solution to the world's problems or just a quick fix? What are the limitations?

Our authors approach these and other issues from diverse perspectives. Paul Krugman opens our symposium with answers about the forces that promote and limit movements towards freer trade. Maria Christina Mattioli and V. K. Sapovadia explore changes that have and should be made to labor markets due to international trade, while Joel Trachtman deepens our understanding of institutional aspects of international trade by viewing the World Trade Organization through various lenses. Graham Dutfield examines the viability of harmonizing of intellectual property standards in international trade. John Magnus focuses on the applicability of international trade standards to new market economies, and David Victor and Joshua House evaluate the emerging market in emissions trading. Finally, Gary Hufbauer and Yee Wong examine one nation's and one administration's impact on international trade. Throughout the symposium, the articles follow the recent course of international affairs to make sense of one of the most profoundly influential forces on foreign affairs—international trade.