Abstract
Through an empirical analysis of forty years of international trade data, the dynamic relationships between trade and political-economic power are investigated in a spatial context on a global scale. The basic hypothesis is that location continues to play a significant role in trade relationships after differential political and economic power determinants are considered. Further, the concept of "power" is expanded to include knowledge via education. Using a simple spatial interaction model, trade is analyzed as a predictable relationship based on distance and a broad definition of power. This classic gravity model predicts the majority of the variance in the complex structure of contemporary international trade. When the change in trade structure over the last forty years is analyzed, similar power-distance relationships again statistically account for the majority of the variance.
