MISADVENTURES OF THE MOST FAVORED NATIONS: CLASHING EGOS, INFLATED AMBITIONS, AND THE GREAT SHAMBLES OF THE WORLD TRADE SYSTEM. By Paul Blustein. PublicAffairs Books, 22 September 2009. In this book, financial journalist Paul Blustein tells the story of how the WTO is sliding into dysfunction- which poses a new and grave menace to globalisation itself. In more than seven years of global talks, the WTO has struggled and failed to resolve contentious differences between rich and developing nations. Now, with a worldwide recession underway, Blustein maintains that the WTO’s failure is contributing to a rise in protectionism-a sign that the world may not be so flat after all. Misadventures of the Most Favored Nations recounts, in vivid detail, how the high-stakes negotiations went awry. At risk, Blustein argues, is the fate of the system that for six decades has opened the global economy and kept it from splintering. For more information, and to purchase a copy, please visit: http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publicaffairsbooks-cgi-bin/display?book=9781586487188
DISTORTIONS TO AGRICULTURAL INCENTIVES: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, 1955-2007. Edited by Kym Anderson. World Bank, October 2009. The fifth and last volume in the Distortions to Agricultural Incentives series focuses on distortions to agricultural incentives from a global perspective. Distortions to Agricultural Incentives series brings together analytical narratives of the evolution over the past half-century of policy-imposed distortions to farmer incentives and food prices in 80 countries, drawing on a new, consistent set of estimates that spans 90 percent of the world’s agricultural markets. The first two titles in the series focus on Europe’s transitional economies and Latin America. Other forthcoming titles in this series will focus on Africa and Asia. Copies are available to purchase online at http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=8612665. A lower rate is available for developing countries by contacting http://publications.worldbank.org/discounts
WHEN COOPERATION FAILS: THE INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLITICS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS. By Mark Pollack and Gregory Shaffer. Oxford University Press, May 2009. The transatlantic dispute over genetically modified organisms has divided two long-time allies, pitting a largely acceptant United States against a deeply suspicious European Union, and has developed into one of the most bitter and intractable conflicts in international law and politics. In this comprehensive analysis, Pollack and Shaffer trace the origins of the dispute in domestic European and American law and politics, identify the multiple obstacles to resolving the dispute in bilateral and multilateral fora, and explore the prospects for the global governance of genetically modified foods and crops. More information can be found at http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199237289.do?keyword=when+cooperation&sortby=bestMatches