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First Diagnose, Then Treat: What Ails the Doha Round?

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  • WOLFE, ROBERT

Abstract

The commonplace tendency is to blame the difficulties of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations on the World Trade Organization (WTO) itself. In contrast, I suggest in the first section of this article that exogenous structural factors, especially changing commodity prices and trade flows, fatally undermined the Round. In the second section, I discount the significance of endogenous institutional factors such as the number of participants, the size of the agenda, or the Single Undertaking, although design failures, notably in the ‘modalities’ for negotiation, did hurt. But what hurt even more was the way the WTO, in common with most multilateral organizations, has not caught up with the shifting centre of gravity in global governance. The trading system is no longer a transatlantic bargain. The regulatory issues on the twenty-first century trade policy agenda will inevitably be negotiated in Geneva, but only after a new trans-Pacific accommodation recognizes China's central role.

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  • Wolfe, Robert, 2015. "First Diagnose, Then Treat: What Ails the Doha Round?," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 7-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:wotrrv:v:14:y:2015:i:01:p:7-28_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Hoekman, Bernard M. & Mavroidis, Petros C., 2015. "Embracing Diversity: Plurilateral Agreements and the Trading System," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 101-116, January.
    2. Decreux, Yvan & Fontagné, Lionel, 2015. "What Next for Multilateral Trade Talks? Quantifying the Role of Negotiation Modalities," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 29-43, January.
    3. Siqi Li & Xinquan Tu, 2018. "Impact of Chinese Characteristics on the World Trade Organization: Challenges and Strategies," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 26(2), pages 107-126, March.
    4. John S. Odell, 2014. "How Should the WTO Launch and Negotiate a Future Round?," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers p0410, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    5. John S. Odell, 2014. "How Should the WTO Launch and Negotiate a Future Round?," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/110, European University Institute.
    6. Andrea Goldstein & Alessia Amighini & Bernard Hoekman, 2016. "Revitalizing the Global Trading System: What Could the G20 Do?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 24(4), pages 34-54, July.
    7. Bernard M. Hoekman & Petros C. Mavroidis, 2020. "To AB or Not to AB? Dispute Settlement in WTO Reform," RSCAS Working Papers 2020/34, European University Institute.

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