"Recent developments in the implementation of protectionist trade policies have resembled the Great Depression of the 1930s, which was characterized by an unprecedented collapse in international trade and a spiral of trade restrictions". This is according to the Bank of Italy's research paper, "Protectionism in the 1930s: A Brief History of a Trade Policy Disaster". Trade protectionism, according to the document, "also had significant negative effects on the geopolitical level, favoring the deterioration of international relations and the consolidation of autarchic economic blocs, particularly in countries characterized by authoritarian regimes". According to the Bank of Italy, the protectionist escalation of the 1930s can serve as a source of inspiration for the current situation: "Today, as then, a model of openness to trade that is based on multilateral rules appears to be in crisis, in favor of a return to trade relations that are more unstable and negatively influenced by political rivalries, which are based on bilateral negotiations".