Trade conflicts, multilateral cooperation and WTO reform

First published: 28 April 2021The articles in this Global Policy special issue, edited by Bernard Hoekman and Petros C. Mavroidis, cover trade conflicts, multilateral cooperation and World Trade Organisation (WTO) reform. Since its formation, with a few notable exceptions, the WTO's members have not been able to negotiate new rules on policies. The Doha Development Agenda negotiations, launched in 2001, quickly became deadlocked, and other functions, such as its dispute settlement mechanism, are also not performing well. Calls for WTO reform have, therefore, been mounting.-- Issue Information pp. 1-4 -- WTO Reform: Back to the Past to Build for the Future pp. 5-12 -- Stakeholder Preferences and Priorities for the Next WTO Director General pp. 13-22 -- Is the WTO in Sync with the Business Community? pp. 23-29 -- Informal Learning and WTO Renewal: Using Thematic Sessions to Create More Opportunities for Dialogue pp. 30-40 -- All the Tea in China: Solving the ‘China Problem’ at the WTO pp. 41-48 -- Plurilateral Cooperation as an Alternative to Trade Agreements: Innovating One Domain at a Time pp. 49-60 -- Why Reform is Needed: WTO ‘Public Body’ Jurisprudence pp. 61-70 -- Appointment with Destiny: Selecting WTO Judges in the Future pp. 71-82 -- The Role of the WTO Secretariat in WTO Disputes – Silent Witness or Ghost Expert? pp. 83-9