The Flow of Trade is a major consideration of civilizations and cultures working together to insure that they can get what they need. Some areas have special crops, which grow in their regions, which the other regions would like to have. In days of the First colonies in this country, before it was a country trade with the local Indians were vital to them staying alive. Our ancestors traded with the Native Indian tribes to insure the colony had the food and things needed to get through the winter months.
If it were not for the Native Indians in those first winters the Pilgrims would have died, starved and frozen. Civilizations' trading has been written about throughout history and every culture, race, nationality and religion have ancient writings to show for it. It seems as if trade partners is a way to exchange the products and services to improve quality of life and higher standard of living to both sides. It brings with it, possibilities for peace and opens cultural exchange and best of all it makes friends. We can learn a lot from fellow cultures, species and nationalities.
Today trade partners are keeping peace in the world, because you are less likely to attack or want to cause war against a group or country from which you derive products, natural resources, technology, enlightenment, services, assistance or other form of trade from. Today most of the peace has been nurtured through trade. Many of our wars have in part been due to trade disputes. For instance the Japanese in WWII part of the reason was due to rubber, oil, steel trade and other resources. Our breaking with England in the revolutionary war was over tea, taxes and other serious issues. Many of our allies in wars were those who were trading partners, for fear of loss of a trading partner. Today we have partial reason for wars over natural resources like Oil.
Today in the news most of our hardships or disputes come from unequal trading partners trying to get a little extra by manipulating currencies. Free trade is a good thing provided the sides trading have what the others need, items they do not wish to produce or cannot produce for the same costs due to regional temperature variations, labor forces, raw materials or cultural norm. Sometimes as many found triangle trading partners worked because one country needed something but the trading partner did not need what the other had extra to sell, but a third partner did and the first partner only had enough to supply her own country. But the first partner needed what the third partner had. Eventually the trading ended up using a unit of trade such as gold, silver, etc. Then eventually gold coins and silver coins and currency came into play.
In Amsterdam a whole new trading hub created with interest, currency, banks, and trade of every good known to man at that time. This was the combination of centuries and millennium of trade and what was learned. Civilization and modern living with amenities and time for recreation, thinking and personal items became possible and thrust the world into a better place of working together. Wars of course did not stop, but rather the shift in thinking began to take shape. Trading partners and allies are generally all part of the strategic thinking of wars or of peace.
Perhaps we might deploy more of the old world thinking of trading partners to the current conflicts which plague mankind. Think about it
"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs