The Prospects for the Multilateral Trading System after Nairobi

The multilateral trading system built around the World Trade Organization (WTO) is confronted with major challenges arising from the far-reaching economic and geopolitical changes that have marked the global landscape over the recent decades. The rise of developing countries and the consequent powershift in the world economy, and the surge in regional trade agreements are bearing heavily on two of the WTO’s core functions, i. e.: negotiating trade opening and crafting multilateral rules. These systemic problems are further aggravated by the sharp slowdown in trade growth and the growing turmoil in the global economy, with the prospects for trade revival being overshadowed by macroeconomic and geopolitical risks that are fuelling concerns over increasing protectionism and trade frictions among trading partners. Against this backdrop, the paper examines the relevance of the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference held in December 2015 in Nairobi (Kenya) for preserving the organization’s central role in global cooperation and trade governance. It highlights the stakes involved in the Nairobi Conference and analyzes its achievements and shortcomings. It finds that the WTO is experiencing a difficult adjustment to bring the multilateral trade rules in line with the new realities in the world economy. However, this process is fraught with great uncertainties about global trade governance.