Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:21:27.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Trade law as a global mediator

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2010

Christopher Arup
Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria
Get access

Summary

This first chapter identifies the subject matter of the book and charts its course. As the book is situated in a large and often hazardous field, I am sure it would be useful to make clear what it hopes to achieve. Here, I introduce the ideas that I wish to pursue, and indicate the purposes which the book might serve.

My primary objective is to examine the texts and assess the impact of the World Trade Organization (WTO), largely through the medium of two of its new multilateral agreements. The agreements in focus here are the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). In so doing, I should like the book to serve as a useful resource for any student of the WTO. Therefore, a solid component of the book is given over to what I hope will be regarded as a careful analysis of the norms and processes of the organisation, using these two most innovative agreements to illustrate how its reach has been extended significantly.

The two agreements were struck when the Uruguay Round reached a conclusion late in 1993. Much of their early analysis was provided by specialists in trade policy, working within the context of the transition from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to the WTO. Their perspective was often one of neo-classical economics and consumer welfare. Another established approach, found for example in international relations, began to focus on the WTO and its new regimes, thinking particularly in terms of their impact on state power and specifically, of national sovereignty.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×