Trade in the 21st Century

Despite troubled trade negotiations, global tradeand trade policywill thrive in the twenty-first century, but with a bow to the past.

The repeated failures since 2001 of global trade negotiations and continuing uncertainties about the ultimate success of mega-regional trade agreements, like the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership, have raised widespread questions about the future of global trade policy. In Trade in the 21st Century, two distinguished experts argue that, despite appearances to the contrary, not only is trade policy alive and well, but also that there are grounds for optimism about the prospects for international trade and investment growth in the twenty-first century.

Trade in the 21st Century asks a central question: Was the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995 the high point of multilateral cooperation on trade and investment matters? Is it possible that, in the two decades since its founding,...