The role of the G20 in WTO governance

Report by Professor Sungjoon Cho, Associate Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law (Chair), and Charlotte Sieber-Gasser, Doctoral Research Fellow, World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Session 27, WTO Public Forum 2010: The Forces Shapping World Trade, pp.29-33. In the course of the financial crisis, the global geography of power has shifted from G8 to G20. The latter, although representing roughly two thirds of global trade, consists of relatively a small number of global players and is consequently excluding many others from decision-making at the international stage. Nevertheless, the G20 has been successful in its reaction to the financial crisis and became therewith an important new player within the international community. When highlighting how the G20 might interfere with the WTO, the panel voiced concerns over the political legitimacy of the G20, given the limited number of members and the global impact of its decisions. It agreed on the impression that although the G20 intends to extend its debates from the financial sector to world economy in general, it has so far little achieved in this direction, particularly when it comes to moving the Doha agenda forward. It remains, thus, open how the G20 will evolve in the coming few years, and what mandates it will shed or adopt. So far, the G20 has complemented the WTO and international financial institutions in handling the financial crisis. Yet, even if there is little evidence pointing towards a less cooperative role in the future, the desirability of a G20 commitment in WTO trade negotiations has yet to be debated. The panel concluded by providing ideas on how the potential of the G20 might be used to serve global interests even better in the future. In their concluding remarks, the panellists agreed that it remains to be seen whether or not the G20 will further broaden its agenda. Given the ebbing away of the financial crisis there is even the question whether the G20 will remain an important international forum for financial collaboration, or whether it has already served its cause and will eventually disappear from the international stage. The Chair concluded the well attended and lively panel with voicing the hope that the two international bodies – the G20 and the WTO – will work in a positive way together in the future and face the challenges and opportunities in their collaboration to the benefit of everyone.

Why Do Some International Institutions Contain Strong Dispute Settlement Provisions: New Evidence from Preferential Trade Agreements

To understand why some international institutions have stronger dispute settlement mechanisms (DSMs) than others, we investigate the dispute settlement provisions of nearly 600 preferential trade agreements (PTAs), which possess several desirable case-selection features and are evoked more than is realized. We broaden the study of dispute settlement design beyond “legalization” and instead reorient theorizing around a multi-faceted conceptualization of the strength of DSMs. We posit that strong DSMs are first and foremost a rational response to features of agreements that require stronger dispute settlement, such as depth and large memberships. Multivariate empirical tests using a new data set on PTA design confirm these expectations and reveal that depth – the amount of policy change specified in an agreement – is the most powerful and consistent predictor of DSM strength, providing empirical support to a long-posited but controversial conjecture. Yet power also plays a sizeable role, since agreements among asymmetric members are more likely to have strong DSMs due to their mutual appeal, as are those involving the United States. Important regional differences also emerge, as PTAs across the Americas are designed with strong dispute settlement, as are Asian PTAs, which contradicts the conventional wisdom about Asian values and legalization. Our findings demonstrate that rationalism explains much of international institutional design, yet it can be enhanced by also incorporating power-based and regional explanations.

Puerto Rico : Commonwealth election law and its application to a political status referendum : report to the Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate /

Running title : Puerto Rico's status referendum.

Puerto Rico's political future : a divisive issue with many dimensions : report to the Congress /

"B-193013"--Prelim. p.

Political sketches of the state of Europe, from 1814-1867, containing Count Ernst Münster's despatches to the Prince Regent, from the congress of Vienna.

Translated from the German (Politische skizzen über die lage Europas vom Wiener kongress bis zur gegenwart ... Leipzig, 1867) by the author's wife, Gräfin Harriet Elizabeth Münster- Ledenburg.

Organizations, dangerous to free institutions: the address, at Burlington college, July 4, 1855; the seventy-ninth anniversary of American independence, and the ninth anniversary of the founding of Burlington College:

Mode of access: Internet.

Coronica general de España que que recopilaba el maestro Florian de Ocampo ... ;Tomo II.

Mode of access: Internet.

The present state of Europe, or, The historical and political mercury.

Imprint varies.

Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between the United States and Argentina, 1910-1929 [microform].

Accompanying guide has date: 1973.

Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between the United States and Central America, 1911-1929 [microform].

Accompanying guide has date: 1969.

Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between the United States and Guatemala, 1910-1929 [microform].

Accompanying guide has date: 1973.

Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between the United States and Costa Rica, 1910-1929 [microform].

Microfilm of documents from the Department of State collection.

Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between the United States and El Salvador, 1910-1929 [microform].

Accompanying guide has date: 1969.

Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between Yugoslavia and other states, 1910-29 [microform].

Accompanying guide has title: Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between Yugoslavia and other states, 1910-1929 and between the United States and Yugoslavia, 1910-1929.

Records of the Department of State relating to political relations between the United States and Chile, 1910-29 [microform].

Accompanying guide has date: 1964.