From multilateral negotiations to bilateral and regional negotiations: the effect of Doha stalling

Abstract

This article argues that the stalling of the Doha Round negotiations is a forsaken opportunity for developing countries. Since the first deadline of Doha Round was missed in 2005, developed countries have changed their strategy of achieving free trade through multilateral negotiations, towards achieving it in regional or bilateral negotiations. Therefore, developing countries have had to stop bargaining in a considerable less hierarchical system and being compelled to bargain in a scenario characterized by power asymmetries. They have also swapped free trade based on non-discriminative multilateral principles, for preferential and discriminative trade treatment.