The Wto And Global Governance

This book contains the views of people in areas of international affairs as to the proper role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in global governance. It explores the policy implications of WTO trade related issues that overlap with other institutions, and proposes future policy directions that could ensure coherent and consistent policies at the national and international level.-- Publisher's description.

CHANGE? By Claude Martin

In the opinion of many, the most crucial issue confronting the world today lies in achieving a sustainable nexus among global trade, economic development, and the environment. This book, written by a prominent diplomat with extensive direct experience in this field, presents a much-needed critical perspective on the conflict of norms among the three policy regimes, focusing on the dilemma of reconciling approaches regarding harmonized global governance and a more diverse community-based approach. It is the first and only in-depth treatment to systematically study a series of deliberations in the World Trade Organization’s Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), highlighting perspectives taken by both developed and developing economies. The book demonstrates that the CTE’s contributions to the evolving trade and environment policy framework have been, contrary to popular perception, both substantial and relevant. In his review of how the particular characteristics of twenty key work outputs of the CTE impact current practice in trade and environment policy discussions, the author discusses such key issues and topics as the following: a singular harmonized global governance framework versus the centrifugal force of community-based, localized or regional solutions that emphasize diversity and multifaceted institution building; drawbacks and continuing relevance of the CTE Work Agenda; issues related to carbon, intellectual property rights, and services; market access for environmental goods; requirements for environmental purposes relating to products, including standards and technical regulations, packaging, labeling, and recycling; and ways forward for combining global regimes with local solutions in an environmental context. Given the urgent need for making economic policies more coherent with sustainability and environmental goals, and for overcoming the ongoing stalemate between developed and developing countries on this matter, this book is sure to be warmly welcomed by policy makers and negotiators in the areas of both trade and environment, as well as by academics, theorists, and experts in the field of global governance interested in formulating practical approaches to trade and environment governance and minimizing potential policy conflicts.

Rorden Wilkinson explores the factors behind the collapse of World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerials – as in Seattle in 1999 and Cancun in 2003 – and asks why such events have not significantly disrupted the development of the multilateral trading system. He argues that the political conflicts played out during such meetings, their occasional collapse and the reasons why such events have so far not proven detrimental to the development of the multilateral trading system can be explained by examining the way in which the institution was created and has developed through time. In addition, this new text: explores the development of the multilateral trading system from the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 to the WTO’s Hong Kong ministerial in December 2005 examines the way in which the interaction of member states has been structured by the institution’s development assesses the impact of institutional practices and procedures on the heightening of political tensions and explains why WTO ministerials exhibit a propensity to collapse but why the breakdown of a meeting has so far not prevented the institution from moving forward This book will be of interest to scholars and students of international politics, economics and law

One of the most striking innovations in international law of the last decade is the creation of a standing appellate court at the World Trade Organization, "the Appellate Body". While there are other international tribunals with appellate chambers, the WTO Appellate Body stands out for its creation of a rich and controversial body of jurisprudence, crafted through the dozens of rulings it has made since 1996. In areas such as trade and environment, and trade and health, the Appellate Body has stepped into some of the most heated trade conflicts of the post-Seattle world. This book examines the WTO Appellate Body as the first full blown international law experiment with "routine" appellate review. Issues covered include the choice of interpretative method by the Appellate Body, its internal operations (for example the role of collegiality and the staff in the Appellate Body Secretariat), the Appellate Body's understanding of its own jurisdiction and mandate, and the argument put by critics that the Appellate Body has been engaging in inappropriate "judicial activism", especially in sensitive areas such as the review of domestic trade remedy (dumping, subsidies and safeguards) cases. As the first book length analysis and assessment of the Appellate Body, this volume will be of interest to trade law specialists, but also to all those who are concerned with the relationship of law to politics in global governance, and with the role of the international judge.

Globalization deeply affects economic structures and raises the issue of how governments should respond to new challenges. In this book, various ways of improving the institutional setup for global governance are discussed by renowned experts. The discussion focuses on further liberalizing international trade, preventing international financial crises, and protecting global environmental systems. The advantages of free international trade as well as the fears of those who are against globalization are considered in the contributions.

The first part of this compilation contains articles that highlight the main challenges to the structure of global governance, trade, and development. They are based on empirical analysis resulting from my own professional experience with both the United Nations system and trade negotiations. They show the challenges that multilateral regimes face in maintaining their relevance. The second part of this compilation contains reflections on how the financial crisis has affected Europe and, what I believe, are the links with educational systems that have not been adapted to the new realities of the globalized world economy. Europe is stuck in fear and, therefore, does not manage to mobilize its creative potential to develop innovative solutions for youth and entrepreneurs. It looks at what it used to be rather than at what it is to be in the future. Education and training methodologies must be adapted to the new economic realities to encourage young people to think creatively and innovate.

As economic, social and environmental connections among states have grown stronger and denser in the last decades, new levels and types of governance have emerged. The process of globalization, while not entirely new, has created new challenges for policymakers attempting to reap its benefits and manage its effects. This volume pulls together work on global governance that examines these challenges and looks at the patterns of governance that emerge. The work is organized into six sections. The first introduces concepts crucial to the analysis of global governance, including representation, efficiency, and hierarchy. The next two sections turn to specific patterns of governance in two realms, security and economic affairs respectively. The fourth section examines legal dimensions of governance. The fifth section concentrates on the impact of global governance on domestic politics, while the sixth looks at how concepts of norms and legitimacy structure our understanding of governance. Overall, this collection reveals a rich scholarly understanding of globalization, governance, and institutions that builds on deep theoretical roots while shedding light on major policy issues.