Kick Starting Multilateralism
Support for multilateral solutions to trade policy problems is high among analysts in the Asia-Pacific region. Governments too say they prefer multilateralism over unilateral policy shifts. But what are we prepared to do about it? We are taught in game theory that talk is cheap--and there has been a lot of cheap talk about supporting the WTO in recent years. Indeed, if fine words in summit communiques resolved trade disputes and negotiation impasses, commercial peace would have broken out a long time ago.