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2 St. John's J. Int'l & Comp. L. 1 (2012)

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       THE LOST PURPOSE OF THE DOHA ROUND

                                Raj Bhala*

           I.  TRADE  LIBERALIZATION   AS COUNTER-TERRORISM

    How   should the world trading system  be regulated? Not  by using  the
Doha  Round  of multilateral trade negotiations as an example. Who  should
regulate the  world  trading system?  Not  the World   Trade  Organization
(WTO)   Members,   if their behavior in this Round, particularly that of most
major, and several developing Members,  is an example.
    The Members   of the WTO  have  succumbed  so completely  to the pursuit
of their commercial self-interest that the Doha Round has devolved from its
grand  launch  in  November 2001 as a counter-terrorist strategy to a
monstrous  mishmash   of international trade law minutiae. The  Round  has
lost its links to its original purpose, to fight Islamist extremism by attacking
one (not the only, but one) of its causes: poverty. The correct idea was that
multilateral trade liberalization could  spur  poverty  alleviation among
Muslim   communities  and  countries, and integrate them  more  completely
into the global trade order. Seeing and experiencing the benefits from this
order, otherwise marginalized Muslims  might  be less susceptible to plotting

    *Rice Distinguished Professor, The University of Kansas, School of Law; J.D.,
Harvard (1989); M.Sc., Oxford (1986); M.Sc., London School of Economics (1985); A.B.,
Duke (1984). Marshall Scholar (1984-86). Member, Council on Foreign Relations, Royal
Society for Asian Affairs, and Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. This essay is based on the
author's April 2011 remarks at the symposium entitled, Challenges to International Law,
Challenges from International Law: New Realities and the Global Order. The author is
grateful to his colleagues and friends at St. John's Law School, including Professors
Christopher Borgen, Margaret McGuinness, and Mark Movsesian, and the Editors and
Staff of the St. John's Journal ofInternational and Comparative Law. He is also grateful to
his Research Assistant, Ms. Sarah Schmidt; J.D., University of Kansas School of Law;
M.A. Economics, University of Kansas (expected May 2013).
    For a more in depth treatment of the matters discussed herein, please see the Doha
Round Trilogy by the author:
*      Poverty, Islamist Extremism, and the Debacle of Doha Round Counter-Terrorism:
       Part One of a Trilogy - Agricultural Tariffs and Subsidies, UNIVERSITY OF SAINT
       THOMAS  LAW JOURNAL (2011, Annual Law Journal Lecture);
*      Poverty, Islamist Extremism, and the Debacle of Doha Round Counter-Terrorism:
       Part Two of a Trilogy - Non-Agricultural Market Access and Services Trade, 44
       CASE WESTERN  RESERVE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW issues 1 & 2 (2012,
       War Crimes Research Symposium on International Law in Crisis);
*      Poverty, Islamist Extremism, and the Debacle of Doha Round Counter-Terrorism:
       Part Three of a Trilogy - Trade Remedies and Facilitation, 40 DENVER JOURNAL
       OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLICY issue 1 (2012, 40th Anniversary Symposium
       in Honor of Professor Ved Nanda).


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