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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2007.01018.x Byline: Robert Z. Lawrence (1) Abstract: To be effective an international organisation must (a) be given an appropriate mission; (b) be given the means to accomplish its mission; and (c) be viewed as legitimate when carrying out the mission. This paper explores the problems in achieving these prerequisites for success first in a general discussion and then in an application to the WTO. Ensuring these conditions are met is not easy because there is an inherent tendency for many international institutions to experience 'mission creep', particularly when accountability for burden sharing is weak. This leads to the central dilemma facing many international organisations. If missions are expanded, and organisations given insufficient means, they are likely to fail (or fall short of optimal behaviour) and be criticised for ineffectiveness. However, the more extensive the means they are given, the more likely that their legitimacy will be questioned. The paper argues that the best way for the WTO to deal with these tensions would be to adopt an approach built on a more variable geometry in which countries would not all be required to participate in a single undertaking. Author Affiliation: (1)Harvard University and Institute for International Economics

'Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development.' written by economists Andrew Charlton and Joseph E. Stiglitz, provides the standards of a multilateral trade agreement that facilitates development and equality among the parties. The book also suggests that World Trade Organization members liberalize their markets to poorer countries.

When the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization recently ruled the United States' steel tariffs invalid, members of Congress complained bitterly. They pointed to the ruling as yet another [...]