American Power, the North-South Divide, and the Multilateral Trading System

Abstract

Power and the Governance of International Trade: From the GATT to the WTO. By Kim Soo Yeon. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010. 192 pp., $38.01 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0-801-44886-7). More than a decade after the launch of the Doha Round and after several botched meetings, hopes of bringing it to a successful conclusion seem to have faded away. Policymakers and analysts alike view the inability of member governments to complete these negotiations as a serious blow to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and even a setback to the broader global economic order. What prevents members of the WTO from striking a deal that—according to some forecasts—could boost economic growth and prosperity the world over? Answering this question requires an understanding of the forces that shaped the WTO and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and how the architecture of these institutions reflects the interests of their creators (or not). It also necessitates the recognition that, like any other social institution, the multilateral trading system benefits some members more than others. In Power and the Governance of International Trade , Soo Yeon Kim addresses these key issues in a comprehensive and engaging manner. As the title of her book indicates, Kim brings national power to the center of the analysis. In the first part of the book, she argues that the rules of the multilateral trade institutions were designed by its more powerful members, first and foremost the United States. The second part shows that the GATT and the WTO benefited the United States and a few of its allies at the expense of other member-states, especially developing countries. Thus, the multilateral trading system neither promotes commerce or trade impartially, nor is it a product of globally accepted norms. Rather, this system was shaped in Washington to advance, above all, American economic and political interests. The qualitative and quantitative evidence amassed to substantiate this thesis is carefully analyzed and mostly convincing, but paints a picture that …