ABSTRACT
The GATS has generated an intense and passionate debate in the education fi eld (Williams 2003; Birtwistle 2006). A review of the existing GATS literature shows that the education service sector has generated the most controversy within the WTO. The education stakeholders in the debate (university associations, teachers unions, education researchers, etc.) have adopted critical positions accusing the trade agreement of interfering in education policy. Although these stakeholders remained silent when education was brought into the new international trade regime during the Uruguay Round, they fi nally spoke out during the Doha Round. Despite this delayed reaction, they have played a key role in carrying the “GATS education debate” into the public sphere.
