Governing Global Trade: International Institutions in Conflict and Convergence(The G8 and Global Governance Series)

Cohn's topic of global trade is of enormous and proliferating interest. He provides a good background from 1945 to the present and on core contemporary themes such as civil society participation and the domesticisation of the trade agenda. Whilst there is a wealth of literature on policy-oriented aspects such as negotiating rounds, there are few that provide the careful, comprehensive historical overview that this work offers and none that do so with reference to international institutions such as the G7, Quad, OECD, and UNCTAD as well as the WTO in global trade governance. This seminal work has been awarded the British Columbia Political Science Association Weller Prize for 2003. Cohn's political science background will appeal directly to a university audience and a broader public policy market. It is also suitable for those interested in trade in the cognates of economics and law. This work's theoretical framework embraces and synthesises the major approaches in the field of international relations and will be appropriate for the dominant schools of realists and liberal institutionalists alike. It could therefore be apt for courses on international relations theory or international political economy taught in a theoretical mode. This book reinforces and broadens the focus of all previous works in The G8 and Global Governance series.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction; The origins and early period of the postwar trade regime: 1947 to 1962; The OECD, the UNCTAD, and the GATT Kennedy round: 1962 to 1972; The development of the G7 summit process and the GATT Tokyo round: 1973 to 1979; Uncertainty in the GATT and the formation of the Quad: 1980 to 1986; From Punta del Este to the Brussels Ministerial: 1986 to 1990; From the Brussels Ministerial to the end of the GATT Uruguay round: 1991 to 1994; The post-Uruguay round period; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Professor Theodore H. Cohn, Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada

Review :
Winner of the British Columbia Political Science Association Weller Prize for the best book published by a BC political scientist in 2001-2002 'Governing Global Trade by Theodore Cohn fills an important gap in the literature on international trade policy. It provides an invaluable, systemic study of how the plurilateral organisations (such as the OECD, G7/8, the Quad and bodies representing developing country interests) have shaped the evolution of trade policy from the beginnings of the GATT through to the current day. The book provides an important insight into the multi-layered nature of international trade negotiation that has been often overlooked in works that focus on the World Trade Organisation alone.' Stephen Woolcock, International Relations Department, London School of Economics and Political Science ’Recommended. General readers and upper-division undergraduate and graduate students of international trade and economic history.’ Choice 'Anyone interested in the post-1945 history of the international trade system and its current institutional problems will find this book a useful addition to the burgeoning trade policy literature. Cohn provides a comprehensive and historically rich account...' International Affairs 'The book is well researched and very rich in detail. Also, it is comprehensive, spanning the history of half a century of multilateral trade negotiations. It fills an important gap in the literature concerning institutional linkages among various formal and informal institutions on trade...it should be read by anyone interested in the politics of the global trade regime.' International Relations of the Asia-Pacific