The Great Shambles Of The World Trade System: An Analysis

The writings of Davis and Blustein use the struggles and triumphs of real international affairs cases to demonstrate the new methods of influence and power that international organizations afford developing countries. However, both authors make it clear that global organizations are not a panacea for international tensions. Blustein’s piece takes on a notably more negative tone. Part of the subtext in the title even reads, “the Great Shambles of The World Trade System”. The ending finishes with the collapse of the WTO Cancun Conference, but it is the actions of smaller nations during the negotiations that give glimpse at the advantage of global organizations. Many African nations band together to try and change U.S policies on Cotton subsidies.
The G20 was also a new and powerful force at Cancun. Blustein makes a point to mention the media as well, stating the G20 was, “the straw that was stirring the drink”(Blustein, p.150), and,“reporters were crammed into its news conferences to find out what act of insurrection it was planning next”(Blustein, p.150). The presence of so many nations in the same place allowed organization and unity that was previously very difficult for leaders to coordinate. This coordination would help create,“The Uprising Of The Rest”, as Bluestein titles this chapter. Of course, due to so many pressing matters and passionate individuals, the extra unity amongst developing countries made things run even less smoothly at Cancun. However, the other option was a smoother conference where the desires of dozens of countries would
While the advantage of so many nations brought together by the WTO was highlighted by Blustein, Davis focuses on the advantage of a single nation relying on the WTO for more legitimacy, fairness, and influence in their disputes. She does a good job of mentioning some possible negatives to WTO adjudication as well, such as the amount of legal resources needed for adjudication through Geneva. Just like Blustein, Davis uses real world examples to solidify her point. Peru and Vietnam had similar issues, however, Peru was able to use the WTO while Vietnam was not. The two situations were similar due to their need to participate in “asymmetric bargaining”(Davis, 262). Davis has no problem mentioning other factors that may be unique to each situation, such as the 3rd party involvement from nations like the United States and Canada in support of Peru. I would not mind if Davis spent more time explaining how big of an effect she thinks these inputs had, but I also know she recognizes that these cases are not 100% similar. Reflecting the power of larger nations to ignore wrongdoing unless fully confronted, she mentions, “resistance to change prevented settlement until faced with the public challenge of a lawsuit (Davis, p.147). Davis simply wants to highlight the extra help that an organization like the WTO can provide in order