WTO Negotiators and Academics Analyse the Doha Development Round of the WTO: Overview and Summary of the Book

Abstract

This book examines some of the defects and needs for reform in the current world trading system, which focuses on the World Trade Organization (WTO). The subtitle of this book — Legitimacy, Efficiency, and Democratic Governance — is very descriptive of the intent of the book's author and director, Professor Petersmann, and his view of the endeavour. This book is the result of three international conferences on Preparing the Doha Development Round. In each of these conferences, leading academics presented papers on the various subjects of the Doha Development Round of the WTO entailing stimulating discussions among WTO ambassadors, other practitioners from developed and less-developed WTO member countries, economists, political scientists, and legal academics. This volume examines some important institutional questions, such as the ‘political legitimacy’ of the WTO system. It looks particularly at the degree to which the system protects consumer welfare, and how that goal of the system could be evaluated.