The collapse on Monday of the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations in Geneva is one of the best things to happen to the developing world in a long while.
This was pure myth. The idea that the Doha Round is a "development round" could not be farther from the truth. At the very outset of the Doha negotiations in November 2001, the developed-country governments rejected the demand of the majority of countries that the talks focus on the hard task of implementing past commitments and avoid initiating a new round of trade liberalization. From the very start, the aim of the developed countries was to push for greater market openings from the developing countries while making minimal concessions on their part. Invoking development was simply a cynical ploy to make the process less unpalatable.
[excerpted from the full article by Walden Bello. Follow the link to <http://opinion.inq7.net/inq7viewpoints/columns/view_article.php?article_id=11543> to read the full article]
Walden Bello is executive director of Focus on the Global South and professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines.