ABSTRACT
The WTO is one of the most successful multilateral institutions of the
post-1945 period. Despite the absence of a central authority, coop-
eration has been sustained for over 50 years. Over time, the coverage
of the institution has expanded, both in terms of scope and member-
ship. The Uruguay Round was a watershed, expanding the trading
system to cover two sectors, agriculture and textiles, that had effec-
tively been removed from the GATT, and adding disciplines in two
new areas, trade in services and intellectual property protection. In the latter half of the 1990s, there was substantial optimism that the WTO
would further extend its coverage of domestic policies affecting trade
and investment. However, initial efforts to do so in Seattle (1999)
failed spectacularly. Despite the eventual successful launch of a new
round in Doha in 2001, progress proved difficult.
