Insights
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WTO Reform – Be Careful What You Wish For?
By: Stuart HarbinsonOn 15 December 2025 the United States submitted a paper “On WTO Reform” to the World Trade Organization’s General Council. This looks like an...
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Can the WTO Weather the Storm?
Research Areas: Trade, Globalisation and SecurityBy: Stuart HarbinsonInitiatives to dismantle/redesign/reform the WTO (delete whichever is inapplicable according to your preference) continue apace. Towards one end of...
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The WTO in the Age of Trump’s Trade Bullying – Should There Be WTO Reform?
By: Stuart HarbinsonSomething doesn’t add up. In Geneva, countries continue to profess undying commitment to the WTO. Meanwhile, their governments back home scramble...
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WTO Abu Dhabi Conference: Stalemate or Stepping Stone
Research Areas: Far East Industrial and Competitiveness Policy North America Trade, Globalisation and SecurityTags: agriculture China digital digital economy e-commerce EU Japan Plurilaterals services US WTO WTO Dispute Settlement System WTO Ministerial ConferenceBy: Stuart HarbinsonIt’s only 20 months since the WTO last had a ministerial conference. Usually, it’s at least two years between meetings but the previous...
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US Shift on Trade Driven by Concerns About China, Trump
This piece was co-authored with Keith M. Rockwell, Global Fellow at the Wilson Center and a Senior Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation. The...
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There’s Another Way of Looking at the WTO
Research Areas: Trade, Globalisation and SecurityTags: WTOBy: Stuart HarbinsonAs the WTO’s next ministerial conference at the end of November comes into view, many commentators portray it as another “make or break” moment...
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What’s in Store for the New WTO Director-General?
Research Areas: Trade, Globalisation and SecurityTags: WTOBy: Stuart HarbinsonThe appointment of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the new Director-General of the World Trade Organization has been called historic. She is the first...
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COVID, Trade, the G20, WTO and Oscar Wilde
By: Stuart Harbinson‘Buy American’, ‘Dual Circulation’, ‘Strategic Autonomy’ – these, and similar ideas, have been around or in gestation for some...
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After Azevedo, What Next for the WTO?
Research Areas: Trade, Globalisation and SecurityTags: WTOBy: Stuart HarbinsonRoberto Azevedo will have served diligently as Director-General of the World Trade Organization for seven years when he leaves office at the end of...
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The UK Up and Running in the WTO: How Fast, How Far Can It Go?
By: Stuart HarbinsonAfter Brexit, our attention to UK trade policy has focused mostly on future FTAs, and in particular trade negotiations between the UK and the...
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After Florence: a Step Forward, but Whose Turn to Go Next?
Research Areas: EU Single Market, Institutions, and GovernanceSo where do matters stand with the UK-EU negotiations for an orderly separation or withdrawal agreement? Three major events – the Lancaster House...