The Doha Round is not the only platform for global cooperation!

During the 20th anniversary of Costa Rica’s participation in the multilateral trading system on 18 March 2010, the Director General of the WTO Pascal Lamy stated that "the Doha Round is not an island in a sea of opportunities - the Round’s failure would affect efforts in present and future cooperation and not only in the domain of trade policy. In our interconnected world, countries can not go it alone and disregard the costs of neglecting international cooperation."

Certainly, globalization demands that the world’s nations improve collaboration on topics and issues that are now global. However, better collaboration should not mean making mistakes together. The momagri model recently highlighted the risks of unregulated market liberalization, especially in agriculture. And yet, this is what the Doha Round plans.

Furthermore, let’s not forget that the Doha Round is a means, not an end. Effectively, the Doha Round should not be concluded for purely political reasons – such as restoring a pseudo sense of global confidence by closing the most advanced case on the subject whilst economic and strategic arguments against multiply.

This is why justifying Doha’s conclusion by arguing international cooperation could be a very dangerous process.