The WTO Doha Round of negotiations has been at an impasse since December 2008. Several academics and opinion makers have argued recently that the Doha Round is ‘dead’. This paper discusses the US narrative on the reasons for the impasse in the Doha Round and the way forward. It contrasts this narrative with that of the major developing country alliances in the WTO and considers some underlying causes for the current impasse in the Doha Round. The paper concludes that the US narrative that the Doha Round is dead is not supported by the majority of the WTO’s members and that whilst a conclusion of the Doha Round is not likely in the near future, there is no viable alternative to concluding the Doha Round on its current development mandate.

This paper considers two perspectives on the future of World Trade Organization (WTO) reform. One argues that the WTO is largely a well-functioning institution and requires only incremental reforms, while the other argues that more fundamental reforms are required to correct the asymmetries of power that gave rise to an imbalanced institution that is still deeply weighted in favour of the developed countries, and that continues to marginalize the majority of developing countries in the multilateral trading system. The paper argues in favour of the latter view, and makes a number of proposals for reform of the WTO that relate to the objectives, goals and mandate of the WTO; the coherence of the WTO with other global economic institutions; and the decision-making process and negotiating methods of the WTO.

The paper argues that increased Trade and Aid are both essential to enhance the development of many developing countries. It argues further that trade-related technical assistance and capacity building is not only an essential element of the concept of special and differential treatment but is also a core element of the development dimension of the multilateral trading system. The paper provides an overview of the history of the GATT/WTO with a specific focus on capacity building and the developments in 2005 and 2006 that have contributed to the momentum for increased Aid for Trade. The issue of additionality of overall ODA and Aid for Trade is considered and the broad trends in the trajectory of ODA and Aid for Trade are assessed. In the conclusion, three reasons are discussed for developed countries to consider increasing their overall Aid commitments and additional Aid for Trade as a contribution to the successful conclusion of the Doha Round.

This paper makes an assessment of the WTO Doha Negotiations from the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference until the suspension of the Doha Round at the end of July 2006. The paper analyses the events from a development perspective distinguishing between the perspectives of two broad groups of developing countries; the first that have an interest in an ambitious outcome in the agriculture negotiations; and a second group of developing countries that constitute the least developed and other small, weak and vulnerable economies. The paper concludes by arguing that the suspension of the Doha Round, and the almost certain extension of the round beyond 2006, means that the prospects for the development outcomes of the round to be realized have been postponed once again for both the above groups of developing countries.