Geneva is a beautiful city, and walking along Lake Geneva is an activity enjoyed by many of its residents and tourists. If you begin in downtown Geneva and proceed along the northwestern shore of Lake Geneva, you will have a grand view of the beautiful water jet in the middle of the lake. Quai du Mont Blanc turns into Quai Wilson, and you will then proceed by a number of statues and pleasant, open parks. Next, you will enter into the wooded Parc Mon Repos and proceed by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. Finally, you will walk between a large, gray building and the lake. If you turn to face this building, you will be looking at the World Trade Organization (WTO), an organization both lauded and vilified with equal intensity by various groups with concerns about trade policy.

Although many individuals and groups have strong opinions about the World Trade Organization, most know very little about it. This chapter is dedicated to making sure you understand the key aspects of this important institution of world trade. Later in the book, you will also be introduced to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, important institutions of international finance and international economic development, respectively. To develop your understanding of the WTO, we first take up its precursor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Here we undertake a historical examination of the GATT and introduce the principles it established for the conduct of international trade in goods. Next, we turn to the WTO itself, as established by the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement. Here we cover the main provisions of the Marrakesh Agreement in the areas of goods, services, intellectual property, and dispute settlement. We also consider the issue of trade and the environment within the WTO. Finally, we take up the current round of multilateral trade negotiations in the form of the Doha Round.