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First diagnose, then treat: what ails the Doha Round?

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  • Robert Wolfe

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 part of this paper that exogenous structural factors, especially changing commodity prices and trade flows, fatally undermined the round. In the second part 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 21st century trade policy agenda will inevitably be negotiated in Geneva, but only after a new trans-Pacific accommodation recognizes China’s central role.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Wolfe, 2013. "First diagnose, then treat: what ails the Doha Round?," RSCAS Working Papers 2013/85, European University Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2013/85
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aaditya Mattoo & Arvind Subramanian, 2011. "A China Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations," Working Paper Series WP11-22, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    2. Simon Evenett, 2014. "The Doha Round impasse: A graphical account," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 143-162, June.
    3. Keohane, Robert O. & Nye, Joseph S., Jr., 2001. "Between Centralization and Fragmentation: The Club Model of Multilateral Cooperation and Problems of Democratic Legitimacy," Working Paper Series rwp01-004, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Robert Wolfe, 2009. "The WTO Single Undertaking as Negotiating Technique and Constitutive Metaphor," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 835-858, December.
    5. Brink, Lars & Orden, David & Datz, Giselle, 2017. "BRIC agricultural policies through a WTO Lens:," IFPRI book chapters, in: Bouët, Antoine & Laborde Debucquet, David (ed.), Agriculture, development, and the global trading system: 2000– 2015, chapter 5, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Bernard M. Hoekman & Aaditya Mattoo, 2013. "Liberalizing Trade in Services: Lessons from Regional and WTO Negotiations," RSCAS Working Papers 2013/34, European University Institute.
    7. Wolfe, Robert, 2013. "Letting the sun shine in at the WTO: How transparency brings the trading system to life," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2013-03, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    8. Aaditya Mattoo, Arvind Subramanian, 2011. "A China Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiation- Working Paper 277," Working Papers 277, Center for Global Development.
    9. Wolfe, Robert, 2009. "The special safeguard fiasco in the WTO: the perils of inadequate analysis and negotiation," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 517-544, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bernard Hoekman, 2014. "The Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement and Rulemaking in the WTO: Milestone, Mistake or Mirage?," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/102, European University Institute.
    2. Bernard Hoekman, 2014. "Supply Chains, Mega-Regionals and Multilateralism: A Road Map for the WTO," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/27, European University Institute.
    3. Bernard Hoekman, 2014. "Sustaining multilateral trade cooperation in a multipolar world economy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 241-260, June.
    4. Simon Evenett, 2014. "The Doha Round impasse: A graphical account," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 143-162, June.
    5. Bernard Hoekman, 2014. "The Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement and Rulemaking in the WTO: Milestone, Mistake or Mirage?," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/102, European University Institute.

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