STANDOFF IN NEGOTIATIONS
By Walden Bello in Doha
US MARINES TOLD "GET OUT OF WTO"
SNAPSHOTS FROM DOHA
By Walden Bello in Doha
THE DOHA REPORT
By Anuradha Mittal in Doha
WTO LEADER CAUTIONS AGAINST 'PROTECTIONISM'
By Paul Blustein, Washington Post
UNFAIR TRADE
CREATES BREEDING GROUND FOR TERRORISM: NGOS
Agence France Press
PRESS
STATEMENT BY 'FRIENDS OF THE DEVELOPMENT BOX'
AS the ministerial in Doha reaches the halfway mark, prospects of an agreement that would satisfy everyone are remote. At this stage, the EU and the US can count themselves lucky that the developing countries have not walked out, and the best they can hope for is a face saving declaration of an "extended work plan" - the current euphemism for a new round. But even that may not be enough to save the already tattered reputation of the WTO or of its director general Mike Moore who has been widely criticised for his heavy-handed and partial approach. When the trade ministers line up for the obligatory "family" photo at the end of the ministerial, as in most family photos, the impression of goodwill and unity will be as thin as the paper it is printed on.
In this issue of Focus on Trade, Walden Bello and Anuradha Mittal update on the scene in Doha, protestors make themselves heard, Mike Moore warns against protectionism and Jose Bove charms the Qatari security forces.
Focus-on-Trade is a regular electronic bulletin providing updates and analysis of trends in regional and world trade and finance, with an emphasis on analysis of these trends from an integrative, interdisciplinary viewpoint that is sensitive not only to economic issues, but also to ecological, political, gender and social issues. Your contributions and comments are welcome. Please contact us c/o CUSRI, Wisit Prachuabmoh Building, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330 Thailand. Tel: (66 2) 218 7363/7364/7365, Fax: (66 2) 255 9976, E-Mail: admin@focusweb.org, Website: http://focusweb.org. Focus on the Global South is an autonomous programme of policy research and action of the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI) based in Bangkok.