It's a necessary component of this sort of idea, but clearly it's not sufficient. I mean, we have had Russia in war with Ukraine for about a decade now, beginning at the annexation of Crimea, even though they had fairly good trade relations, even if they were hurt once Maidan happened.

I think that one needs strong economic ties, but it seems to only truly work with democratic societies.

A point fully disproven by Putin by now.

I don't think that's right.

Economic interdependence is a deterrent against war, not an absolute barrier.

If you can easily swap trade partners for example, it's less of a deterrent. Which is one of the reasons why EU has gone beyond simple import/export agreements.