Negotiating Trade Developing Countries in the WTO and NAFTA

Sheds light on international trade negotiations, and the ways developing countries can succeed in them.

Negotiations between governments shape the world political economy and in turn the lives of people everywhere. Developing countries have become far more influential in talks in the World Trade Organization, including infamous stalemates in Seattle in 1999 and Cancún in 2003, as well as bilateral and regional talks like those that created NAFTA. Yet social science does not understand well enough the process of negotiation, and least of all the roles of developing countries, in these situations. This 2006 book sheds light on three aspects of this otherwise opaque process: the strategies developing countries use; coalition formation; and how they learn and influence other participants' beliefs. This book will be valuable for many readers interested in negotiation, international political economy, trade, development, global governance, or international law. Developing country negotiators and those who train them will find practical insights on how to avoid pitfalls and negotiate better.

List of figures; List of tables; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction John S. Odell; Part I. Multilateral Negotiations: 2. The evolution of national interests: new issues and North-South negotiations during the Uruguay Round J. P. Singh; 3. Reframing the issue: the WTO coalition on intellectual property and public health, 2001 John S. Odell and Susan K. Sell; 4. The strict distributive strategy for a bargaining coalition: the like minded group in the World Trade Organization, 1998–2001 Amrita Narlikar and John S. Odell; 5. Learning in multilateral trade negotiations: some results from simulation for developing countries Cédric Dupont, Cosimo Beverelli and Stéphanie Pézard; Part II. Regional Negotiations: 6. Getting to 'no': defending against demands in NAFTA energy negotiations Antonio Ortiz Mena L. N.; Part III. WTO Dispute Settlement Negotiations: 7. Do WTO rules create a level playing field? Lessons from the experience of Peru and Vietnam Christina L. Davis; 8. Compliance bargaining in the WTO: Ecuador and the bananas dispute James McCall Smith; Index.

Negotiations between governments shape the world economy and thus the lives of people everywhere. This 2006 book reports the inside story about how developing countries negotiate in the WTO and regional talks, which strategies they use, coalition formation, and how they learn and influence other countries' beliefs.

John S. Odell is Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He was editor of International Organization, 1992–6.