Online ISSN 2286-0266
Print ISSN 1223-0685
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Geicun MUSTAFA
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti
This article reframes Islamophobia from a primarily socio-political issue into an economic variable with systemic effects on cross-border exchange. It argues that, in a period of heightened protectionism and deglobalization, Islamophobia operates as an informal barrier to international economic and business relations by reducing trust, raising transaction costs, and amplifying uncertainty and reputational exposure for firms and public actors. The study develops an interdisciplinary analytical framework linking identity-based discrimination, political discourse, and “cultural security” to concrete economic channels: investment decisions, supply-chain restructuring, consumer and producer boycotts, labour mobility, and the escalation of trade disputes through sanctions and informal restrictions. The empirical strategy is comparative, focusing on interactions between Western states and Muslim-majority partners, and examining responses by governments, companies, business associations, and international organizations. By integrating reputational capital and cultural risk into the analysis of non-tariff barriers, the article offers policy-relevant insights for economic diplomacy and corporate risk management under conditions of fragmented globalization.

ŒCONOMICA no. 4/2025
Keywords: Islamophobia, informal trade barriers, non-tariff measures, reputational risk, cultural risk, deglobalization, discrimination and identity politics, sanctions and boycotts, foreign direct investment, labour mobility, global value chains, economic diplomacy
JEL: D74, F14, F21, F22, F51, Z13
Islamophobia as an Informal Trade Barrier: Reputational Risk and the Political Economy of Deglobalization