ABSTRACT
The final Declaration of the Hong Kong World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference in December 2005 is presented as a success. Although WTO members were not ready to fully negotiate the content of the Doha Round in Honk Kong, they clearly demonstrated that the need for a multilateral framework for international trade is shared. In the analysis of the dynamics of trade negotiations following the creation of WTO in 1995, three factors are particularly worthy of note. First, there has been a growing interdependence between trade and social and environmental concerns. Second, developing countries have radically changed their negotiation stance. Third, there has been a surge in demands by civil society to participate in a negotiation process that remains very much limited to member states. The demand for greater participation is clearly associated with a deep wave of protest against further trade liberalization and globalization.
