International Relations - Research Paper Example

In fact, it “refers both to a process of growing material interconnectedness as well as to the ‘idea’ or consciousness of that process” (Ravenhill 302). The purveyor or enforcer of such idea is the WTO. Although the WTO is supposedly a consensual type of organization, where the majority, which consist of the underdeveloped and developing countries, is theoretically the more powerful group, it is actually the few developed and advanced capitalist countries that are most influential in the formulation of its policies.

Since its founding, the WTO has been accused of making the economic conditions of the poorer nations worse. According to Global Exchange, an international human rights advocacy organization, the WTO has made the world’s richest become richer at the expense of the poorest as it has “hastened these trends by opening up countries to foreign investment and thereby making it easier for production to go where the labor is cheapest and most easily exploited and environmental costs are low” (Top Reasons to Oppose the WTO).

The WTO was established in January 1995. However, the basic principles behind it were already being implemented since 1948 through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT (World Trade Organization). . However, there are developing countries with governments that have continued to adhere to the policies of the WTO despite the massive protests that have been held in their respective countries. Behind these are the corporations who have accumulated profits because of globalization (Berberoglu 68).

Since the WTO regularly meets in order to discuss the implementation of trade liberalization, the agendas that it often tables are scrutinized by different people’s organizations. One contentious issue that has been the subject of intense protest campaigns from farmers is agricultural liberalization. The WTO calls for “the removal of exemptions for import controls and supply management regimes” (Shrybman 50). The net effect of this policy is that a less developed nation that could not compete well can be dumped with agricultural products coming from the more developed countries.

This naturally puts the farmers of the said country at a grave disadvantage because of unfair competition resulting from it. With inadequate subsidy, the farming sector of the less developed country would certainly not be able counter the heavy importation. Another major criticism of the WTO is that it tends to ignore the impact of its policies on other important aspects of society. It is said that in every forum that is held by this multilateral body, “global commerce takes precedence over everything – democracy, public health, equity, the environment, food safety and more” (Wallach & Sforza 20).

There are two other issues that have been consistently raised against the WTO; these are on matters of the environment and labor. When it comes to the environment, there have been calls by environmental groups to use trade sanctions as a means to pressure erring nations to comply with