The World Trade Organization (WTO) is scarcely 10 years old, but it has already generated a mountain of debate, controversy, and outrage. Rulings on beef hormones and tuna-dolphin cases provide explicit examples of how the organization regulates areas of individual consumer choice, ethical preferences and cultural habits.The deep and far-ranging impact of the WTO on peoples' everyday lives means that it is not just an institution of interest to economists, but to everyone, a fact that was perhaps most graphically illustrated by the demonstrations that have become a regular feature associated with high-level meetings of the WTO.This audiobook provides a carefully considered explanation of what the WTO is, what it does, and how it goes about executing its tasks. It gives a clear understanding of the mandate, structure, and functioning of the WTO that is essential to appreciating the controversy behind the organization.

Amrita Narlikar is the president of the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies[1] and Professor at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Hamburg, Germany. She was previously Reader in International Political Economy in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge, founding Director of the Centre for Rising Powers, and a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. She is an expert on international negotiations, the political economy of international trade, and rising powers.