Mikhail Balaev Authors Article on International Trade

Assistant Professor, Mikhail Balaev successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Oregon in December 2008. Based on his dissertation research, he published an article, "The Effects of International Trade on Democracy: A Panel Study of the post-Soviet World-System," in the Fall '09 issue of Sociological Perspectives  (Volume 52, Number 3, pp. 337-362).

In his research, Dr. Balaev says that he questions the conventional neoliberal economic wisdom that trade goes hand in hand with democracy. Some authors argued that trade boosts democracy (and vice versa), others say that international trade increases inequality (both within and between nations) and reduces democracy. Dr. Balaev argues that both sides are wrong because international trade is not a whole and homogeneous process. “It all depends on who you trade with, not just how much you trade,” he says.” If a country trades with a hegemonic state (represented by Russia in my analysis) then the democracy is in jeopardy (trade benefits come with a political package). On the contrary, trade with non-hegemonic states helps a former Soviet state economically distance itself from Russia and secure democratization.”