Cultural commonality, not just shared interests, underlies international trade and cooperation.

Evidence

In the past the patterns of trade among nations have followed and paralleled the patterns of alliance among nations. In the emerging world, patterns of trade will be decisively influenced by the patterns of culture. Businessmen make deals with people they can understand and trust; states surrender sovereignty to international associations composed of like-minded states they understand and trust. The roots of economic cooperation are in cultural commonality. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 367

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the transaction-cost / trust arguments from Milgrom’s law merchant material — trade institutions rest on trust and information, here framed culturally. — connects to: The gratitude ethic toward food spans unrelated cultures worldwide. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 684