| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Will Clayton, a principal architect of the United States' post-1945 plans, was committed to trade liberalization as a path to economic recovery. This article examines Clayton's efforts to secure early commitment from Western European nations to economic integration, as he negotiated details of the United States' offer of Marshall Plan aid to Europe in 1947. It focuses on his attempts to persuade an unwilling Britain to assume leadership of this cause. It examines the contradictions between the practicalities of achieving closer European economic integration and the non-discrimination provisions of the proposed International Trade Organization. Tensions are examined between Clayton and his colleagues over the priority to be accorded to closer European economic integration. It concludes that, although Clayton was not successful in obtaining a clear commitment from the Europeans to economic integration, he did much to further the intellectual arguments and establish the climate where this became a reality within ten years.
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