Evaluating the WTO

            
             As civil as human society has seemingly become in today's day in age, even the most developed countries of the world still behave and interact towards each other in such an unconstructive manner that undermines the economic interests of people around the world. Mercantilism, which has long before industrialization characterized the behavior of Western nations, is the prevailing behavior of modern state interaction. Political interests, which can range from anywhere between territorial disputes to national humility, often determine whether or not policies which economically benefit the people become enacted. Thus to keep politicians and policymakers around the world accountable, a worldwide body or bodies is needed to force all the nations of the world to abide by certain rules on a global level in order to assure that the economic interests of the people, in developed and undeveloped nations alike, are presented in the international policies of the nations of the world. Thus, through a series of trade talks and rounds, the World Trade Organization was enacted specifically to fit this need; to try to make the global economic system fair, to enact objective rules, and to globally enforce these rules. The WTO must now be evaluated as to determine how well it is achieving these goals. This paper will begin by briefly going over how it is that the WTO liberalizes trade, the case for the WTO in its comparison to its alternatives, and lastly recommendations for the WTO to better achieve its goals. The main strengths of the WTO are that it demands the accountability of its members by adhering to WTO rules and acts as an arbitrator in settling disputes by giving all members an equal playing field. The WTO is a member organization with a set of rules that all member states must abide by. Multilateral trade negotiations which began with the creation of the GATT in 1947 have over the last 55 years have been enacting trade laws and regulations with the purpose of liberalizing trade.