ISBN 92-808-1055-3
2001, 308pp;
Paper; US$24.95

ABSTRACT

The World Trade Organization is a major player in the field of global governance. Since its creation in January 1995, it has expanded the reach of trade rules deep into the regulatory structure of almost 140 sovereign states, affecting the daily lives of all citizens. As a result, it has found itself at the centre of controversy in areas that are well outside the domain of traditional trade policy. The response of public interest groups in Seattle and elsewhere has been to demand a role in WTO processes and for the WTO to undertake major reforms. Reform will not come easily. The architects of the WTO are proud of having created what they consider to be a major achievement in institutionalized global economic cooperation. They point to the success of the WTO in doing what governments wanted it to do: to reduce barriers to trade and to conduct that trade according to agreed rules. The central question is how wise policy makers should respond to the pressures now falling on the WTO system while ensuring the preservation of a trading system that has led to unprecedented growth in the world economy and contributed to the peaceful coexistence of nations. This question is addressed in this book. A number of prominent personalities representing a broad spectrum of interests in the field of international policy-making, and with a strong interest in a well-functioning trading system, offer their views on the role of the WTO in Global Governance. Gary P. Sampson worked at UNCTAD from 1975 to1983. From 1984 to 1986 he was Senior Fellow in Economic Policy at the Reserve Bank of Australia and Professorial Fellow at the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University. In 1987, he was appointed Director at the GATT and in 1995 Director at the WTO. He is currently on leave from the WTO. He holds the posts of Professor of International Economic Governance at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the United Nations University and Visiting Academic at the London School of Economics. He teaches on a regular basis at the Melbourne Business School and INSEAD in France. He has written extensively on areas relating to international economic governance and his most recent book is entitled Trade, Environment and the WTO: the Post Seattle Agenda.

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