Revisiting the Foundations of the Global Trade Order from a 21st Century Perspective

Abstract

Nowadays we are living in troubled times globally, including in the specific framework of trade relations between the West and Russia. The world economic order in which we live was also set up in a very troubled period: in the immediate aftermath of World War II and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Therefore, a reflection on its foundations can be a reflection into the present that could provide ideas for the future. The reflection also leads to a discussion of whether the strategy of “more”, in particular “more liberalization”, should be replaced by the strategy of “better” and the strategy of the 3 Cs: Consolidation, Completion and Coherence, a thesis already put forward by one of the authors in 2001 before the launching of the WTO Doha Round of negotiations. The failure of the Doha Round, and in particular the inability to accept that its launch was perhaps not a timely step, seems to strengthen the validity of this thesis.