Strategies in GATT and WTO Negotiations

Abstract While many books have examined strategies in commercial negotiations among private entities, there has hardly been any attempt at systematically analysing negotiating strategies in multilateral trade negotiations involving governments at the erstwhile General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and subsequently the World Trade Organization (WTO). Based on unparalleled access to first-hand accounts of key negotiators from India and other developing countries, Strategies in GATT and WTO Negotiations provides a systematic identification and comprehensive analysis of strategies and tactics deployed by the main players at the GATT/WTO negotiating table, particularly from the perspective of developing countries. This technically rich and lucidly written book will help readers comprehend the role strategy plays in the developed countries prevailing in WTO negotiations on most occasions. The reader will also understand the dynamics and strategies behind the rare successes of many developing countries in countering entrenched power equations at the GATT and WTO negotiating table. It includes a fascinating analysis of action behind the scenes and strategies deployed by many developing countries in securing some of their key negotiating objectives on three specific issues in the Doha Round of the WTO—Singapore Issues, Agriculture negotiations, and Food Security. The ‘insider’ accounts of some of the key negotiators add value to the known knowledge about how the strategies and tactics are practiced, which is often lacking in most theoretical accounts from academics who stand at an arms-length from these negotiations. The book provides a template for spawning a new stream of academic research on negotiating strategies in international organizations.