‘Waiting for Godot’ or Riding the Orient Express? Trade Negotiations and the Global Audience

Abstract

Interest in the Doha Round appears to be waning among those who should be its major stakeholders. While the negotiations are still interesting to trade policy professionals, the apparently endless negotiations and increasingly trivial nature of any progress that is announced – at least from the perspective of the business community and others in civil society with an interest in trade policy – may be detrimental to the future effectiveness of the WTO. While officials and trade policy professionals continue to suggest that it is business as usual at the negotiations, stakeholders are increasingly dissatisfied with this explanation. Those actively engaged in the process need to step back from the minutiae of the negotiations and consider the broader ramifications of the drawn-out negotiating process for the long-term effectiveness of multilateral trade institutions.