ISSUE 38:
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2005
network of research and training centres/programmes
FRONT PAGE | ARCHIVE |
New from UNU Press
The WTO and Sustainable Development
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By Gary P. Sampson
The WTO has evolved into a world trade and sustainable development organization and many issues now on its agenda are far from traditional trade policy matters. Some have already proven to be particularly controversial and there is much more controversy to come.
"The WTO simply cannot ignore the need to promote and preserve the environment. The priority must be to re-balance the international trade system in favour of developing countries," writes Pascal Lamy, WTO Director-General and former European Union Commission for Trade, in the foreword to this new book from UNU Press. "[This book] is a crucial first step in identifying and exploring the issues that fall under the umbrellas of sustainable development and the expanded agenda of trade policy."
Among the topics covered in Sampson's comprehensive analysis of the WTO's influence on sustainable development are: trade liberalization and market access; discrimination and WTO rules; WTO agreements and standards; multilateral environmental agreements; biotechnology; trade in services; special and differential treatment; and world trade and environment organizations.
- Gary P. Sampson is the Professor of Economic Governance at the Institute of Advanced Studies, United Nations University, Yokohama, Japan, and Professor at the Centre for Business and Public Policy, Melbourne Business School, Melbourne University. He is a former Director of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organization.
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Reforming from the Top: A Leaders' 20 Summit
Edited by John English, Ramesh Thakur and Andrew F. Cooper
The system of global governance is under serious challenge. The UN, the G7/8, the IMF and the World Bank are but a handful of the organizations contributing to what has become a crisis of legitimacy for an international system that appears ill-suited for timely, innovative and effective solutions to contemporary global challenges.
Moreover, it is a system that made sense mainly for the post-Second World War era, but sixty years later seems ill-equipped for bridging the growing political and economic divides between North and South and accommodating the needs of the big, emergent markets.
Some scholars and practitioners have suggested that the time has come for the establishment of new multilateral forums that reflect 21st century realities. One option attracting increased attention in policy and academic circles is to create a Summit of the leaders of 20 nations (L20), an institution that draws its inspiration from both the current G7/8 leaders' meetings and the G20 finance ministers' meetings.
This book explores whether the creation of an L20 is a feasible possibility for the international community. It offers thematic and geographic arguments in favour of the L20, with a particular emphasis on the larger role that it could play in bringing about reform of the global economic and financial systems. The book concludes with a discussion of the changing nature of relationships in a globalised world, and makes a case for why an L20 would be a worthwhile addition to the international architecture.
- John English is Executive Director of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Waterloo, Canada.
- Ramesh Thakur is Senior Vice-Rector of the United Nations University (Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations), Tokyo, Japan.
- Andrew F. Cooper is Associate Director of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Waterloo, Canada.
© 2005 United Nations University