Strategies in GATT and WTO negotiations. By Abhijit Das

Abhijit Das is a seasoned participant at WTO Ministerial Conferences (MCs) as a member of India’s delegation and more recently as a civil society delegate. He is also one of the few trade experts who had an opportunity to gain a first-hand understanding of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiation rounds. Das’s book Strategies in GATT and WTO Negotiations provides a true insider’s perspective of the negotiation dynamics in the GATT and WTO and what drives these negotiations where multiple interests coalesce and collide. Multilateral trade negotiations are particularly complex especially at the WTO, which is guided by the rule of consensus1 and where every member has technically the right of veto. The WTO MC takes place once in two years and its very structure is designed to make the ministerial meetings a theatre of drama, suspense, last-minute bargains, late-night compromises, frightening brinkmanship, and sometimes even plain threats where issues which might have eluded negotiated outcomes for years could find dramatic solutions; in the same vein, issues which might appear innocuous could suddenly gain prominence and eventually become deal breakers. Blame games after every failed or unsuccessful negotiation is a routine feature of WTO MCs. From Das’s perspective, it is even more intriguing how certain countries that may be responsible for the collapse of trade negotiations get away from the blame, while others who might have stood for their rights get painted as villains and spoilers.2 Spinning a positive narrative irrespective of the outcome is an essential feature of multilateral trade negotiations and MCs in particular.