Conference Reports, August, 2009

The third major collapse of talks in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations on July 28, 2008, in Geneva prompted more than one participant at an international roundtable of trade experts sponsored by CIGI to suggest that it was time for reflection — on the Round, on other mechanisms to manage trade negotiations, on the future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) itself, and more generally on the institutional requirements of the emerging multipolar global economy. The participants at CIGI’s annual meeting of trade experts on September 11-12, 2008, were challenged with recommending how the international institutional framework might be reshaped to meet the needs of today’s more highly integrated globalized world economy.