Borders Frequented by Trade Seldom Need Soldiers

The title of this post was, from what I have read, an often spoken phrase of Dr. William Lytle Schurz, the second president at Thunderbird. It is also mentioned by the current president, Dr. Angel Cabrera, in reference to the Thunderbird mission and "spirit":

Thunderbird has a clear sense of purpose, nicely articulated by the School's second president, William Schurz, when he said: "Borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers." Our goal is to educate global leaders who contribute with their business and their actions to building a more prosperous, livable, peaceful world. Thunderbird’s mission—educating global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide—is a reflection of the greater purpose of business as a force of good around the world. It's also a vision of global management as an honorable profession that requires technical competence, professional skill and a non-negotiable commitment to ethical professional practice.

As an alumnus of Thunderbird, I strongly believe in the above, but this post's intention is not only to engage in showcasing the school and Dr. Schurz. The above came to mind when reading Thomas Barnett's latest column "Fewer wars, more consumers, thanks to globalization." In particular, the opening comments basically validate Schurz's understanding forged many years ago:

"Two new reports about our world reiterate the overwhelmingly positive impact of globalization upon our planet, making it more peaceful and more just.

"The "Human Security Brief 2007," compiled by Canada's Simon Fraser University, details the continuing overall decline in global conflict that began with globalization's rapid expansion around the planet in recent years, to include the complete absence of classic state-on-state war since 2003.

"As a result, total deaths from conflicts are now lower than the world has ever seen. For anyone looking for a new world order after the Cold War, this is it: far fewer wars and much less death from them."

This also illustrates how prescient the founder of Thunderbird was when looking back at the history of the School. Interestingly, the School was an Air Force training base and the founder saw the need from his military experience for a new generation of global managers:

Thunderbird School of Global Management is the oldest and largest graduate management school in the United States focused solely on preparing international business leaders. It was founded in 1946 following World War II by Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Training Command.

A pioneer and visionary of his time, General Yount saw a growing demand for international executive talent and had a dream to create the first school of business to focus exclusively on international management. That dream was realized April 8, 1946, when the School received its charter and General Yount became the school's first president. The school was founded as a nonprofit organization known as the American Institute for Foreign Trade. Classes began Oct. 1, 1946, and its first class graduated June 14, 1947. The school has since graduated more than 35,000 students who live and work in more than 140 countries.

The graduate school was built on the site of Thunderbird Field, a historic airbase established to train American, Canadian, British and Chinese pilots during World War II. The remnants of that earlier time can still be seen on the modern campus in a number of landmark buildings, including the airfield control tower, barracks and airplane hangars.

The school's unique curriculum is based on the principle that to do business on a global scale, executives must know not only the intricacies of business, but also understand the customs of other countries and be able to communicate in different cultures.

Essentially, globalization has strengthened the level of interdependency across the world, and entities that share a greater degree of interdependence also face a greater degree of risk in initiating negative conflicts that would degrade the overall prosperity of the entities involved. By entities, I refer to nations, states, organizations, corporations, communities, individuals, etc.

Global managers who excel at creating, managing, and enhancing these interdependencies through successful and innovative best practices, in my opinion, have been and will continue contributing to a more peaceful and just world. I am proud to say that Thunderbird grads are consistently on the front lines of this effort.

Update: Clement, from the Growth Matters blog, has referred to perhaps Schurz's original inspiration (pure speculation) for the phrase above--French economist, Claude Frederic Bastiat (1801 to 1850). Some further searches online led me to this nice summary of Bastiat's quote and philosophy:

The slogan, "if goods don t cross borders, armies will," is often attributed to Bastiat because he so forcefully made the case that free trade was perhaps the surest route to peace as well as prosperity. He understood that throughout history, tariffs had been a major cause of war. Protectionism, after all, is an attempt by governments to inflict on their own citizens in peacetime the same kinds of harm their enemies attempt (with naval blockades) during wars.

Comments

[Clement Wan]

For what it's worth, I think the quote actually comes from Claude Frederic Bastiat who said (sometime in the 1800s) "If goods do not cross borders, soldiers will."

Best regards,
Clement

[Shawn in Tokyo]

Hi Clement,

Thanks for stopping by and for the additional historical reference on this phrase. I guess it is different enough that I haven't seen his name appear in searches.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Bastiat inspired Schurz and I have recently tried to find some of Schurz's works to see if he expanded on this notion at all in published materials.

Thanks,

Shawn

[Clement Wan]

Shawn -

I just did a search of the phrase - and I think you're right - I can't seem to find the actual quote and context. However many references seem to suggest that it was Bastiat that is credited with the quote.

You may also find this of interest: http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2007/05/who_said_it.html - the comments have yet more attributions on the quote. Either way, it's an idea that clearly has merit! :)

Best regards,
Clement