With the WTO Director-General (DG) selection process about to move into a new, "consultation and consensus phase", its time to pull together the posts of the last few months. This post updates a February 15 collection of links on the WTO DG selection process: "The Making of the WTO Director-General, 2005, #2".
What does it matter
I'll accumulate "So what, why does this race matter?" posts here. Why does free trade matter? Why does the WTO matter to free trade? Why does the DG matter to the WTO? What about the General Council Chair?
The WTO is a "member-driven" organization, and, according to John Jackson, member of a recent commission on the future of the WTO, the DG position is institutionally weak: "The Director-General in a Member Driven WTO".
What does the WTO Director-General do? Here's Candidate Pascal Lamy's articulate explanation: "What does the Director-General of the WTO do?".
How are Directors-General chosen?
This post links to the WTO DG selection rules, and to a newspaper article providing a summary description of the process: "The Rules for Choosing a Director-General of the WTO".
Miles Kahler critiques the methods used to choose leaders at the World Bank, IMF, and the WTO in the Institute for International Economics book, Leadership Selection in the Major Multilaterals. The chapters can be read online (but cannot be downloaded). I learned about this from Daniel Drezner.
There have been two WTO DG contests before this one. Renato Ruggiero was selected as the first WTO DG in 1995: "How Renato Ruggiero Became the First Director General of the WTO".
A Claude Barfield Financial Times column, arguing that a WTO DG should have considerable political stature (selected from among former heads-of-state), was the subject of this post: "What Should We Look For In a WTO DG?".
Early Maneuvering
Nominations had to be made by December 31. But the race began before then. Who might have been in? Why did some drop out while other stayed in?
Early on, Jagdish Bhagwati suggested, in the Jan/Feb 2004 Foreign Affairs, that the South African Trade Minister Alex Erwin was considered a leading contender. Bhagwati's article was titled : "Don't Cry for Canc�n". "...Alec Erwin, South Africa's trade minister and a favorite to become the next director-general of the WTO..." This was quickly denied.
A lot of people thought about running for DG: "People who might have run for WTO Director-General, but did not". In October, Brazilian and Uruguayan representatives met in Montevideo, without reaching joint agreement on a Latin American candidate: "Why are there two Latin Americans in the WTO race?". In December, Kenyan Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi almost entered the race: "There was another candidate".
And then there were four
When the sun came up on January 1, there were four candidates. Felipe Seixas Corr�a of Brazil, Carlos P�rez del Castillo of Uruguay, Pascal Lamy of France, and Jaya Krishna Cuttaree of Mauritius. Who are these men? What strengths and weaknesses do they bring to this office?
This Jan 2 survey post linked to pages with biographical information on each candidate: "Race for WTO Director-General". The Economist also surveyed the four candidates on January 7: "The Race for WTO Director-General".
Here is a report of an interview with Mauritius Foreign Minister Jayakrishna Cuttaree: "Jayakrishna Cuttaree". Here is a post on a Financial Times column that discussed Pascal Lamy: "The pros and cons of Pascal Lamy".
Alan Oxley, former Australian Ambassador to the GATT explains: "What's Wrong With Pascal Lamy". Peter Gallagher, an Australian trade consultant, discussed P�rez del Castillo and Lamy: "Advice on who to pick as the next WTO Director-General". Both Oxley's column and Gallagher's post offer much more.
Michael C. Boyer, James G. Forsyth, Jai Singh survey the four candidates, and their chances, in the February 2005 issue of Foreign Policy, "Who Gets to Run the WTO?". Very good. I learned about this from Daniel Drezner. Here's a February 19 survey of the four candidates from the International Herald Tribune: "The WTO Director-General Race Candidates".
The race itself
How do you campaign to be Director-General of the WTO? Mike Moore, a former Prime Minister of New Zealand, was DG from 1999 to 2002. He described his race for DG in his 2003 book on the WTO, A World Without Walls. This post has an extract from the book, describing the race: "What's it like to run for WTO Director-General".
The selection rules call for the presentation of the candidates to the General Council soon after the nominations end. In 2005, this presentation took place on Wednesday, January 26: "This Wednesday�s WTO General Council meeting" and "The next step in the WTO race". A group of NGOs took advantage of the General Council meeting to schedule its own "public hearing" with the candidates on the evening of January 26: "Public Hearing for WTO Candidates". And another post: "Meet the WTO Candidates".
Once the presentations were completed, the texts were posted to the WTO website, and there was a spate of stories: "WTO DG Candidates Address the General Council". In a first, three of the candidates answered questions at an NGO sponsored "public hearing" on January 26. Here is a transcript: "Minutes of Civil Society Hearing for WTO Director-General Candidates". The NGO "public hearing" was a new element in a WTO DG race; the article highlighted in this post points to it as an example of the increasing influence of NGOs: "The NGOs' New Influence".
The candidates have been running hard. Brazilian Felipe Seixas Corr�a traveled to South Africa � another G-20 member: "The Brazilian visits South Africa". South African news reports suggested that South Africa was torn between its ties with Brazil and its connections with other African countries. Its choice is described in the post "Seixas Corr�a, or Cuttaree?". In early March, he took his campaign to Washington: "Seixas Corr�a Visits Washington". In late March, China endorsed him: "China Endorses Seixas Correa".
Newsweek interviewed Pascal Lamy in late January: "Newsweek Interviews Pascal Lamy". Here's another interview from the Financial Express: "Interview with Pascal Lamy". Here is a February article on Lamy based on German sources: "Does Pascal Lamy have a good chance?". In February, Brazil became indignant about Lamy remarks about the public international public good nature of rain forests: "The Brazilians Are Not Happy With Pascal Lamy". In late-February, Lamy took his campaign to India: "Pascal Lamy Turns Up In India". In March there was a strange story about Nigerian support for Lamy "Nigeria's Position on the WTO Director-General Race".
In mid-March, the Bush Administration proposed Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as the U.S. candidate for the next President of the World Bank. From that point on, there was persistent speculation about a deal between the U.S. and Europe: the U.S. would support Pascal Lamy in exchange for European support for Wolfowitz at the World Bank: "Wolfowitz for Lamy?"; "Persistent speculation on Lamy for Wolfowitz deal"; "Wolfowitz/Lamy Gossip". The blog "World Bank President" has been covering the World Bank race. It's a potentially useful reference on the inter-relationship between the two races.
Early on, Uruguayan P�rez del Castillo traveled to Australia to meet with the trade minister there: "What will Australia do?�. In early February, the Australians endrosed him. Stories about that time tied Australia's selection decision (which was said to be between P�rez del Castillo and EU candidate Lamy) to recent EU decisions on wheat subsidies "Which Candidate Will the Australian's Choose?"; "The Australians Opt for P�rez del Castillo". This post links to a set of stories on P�rez del Castillo's claims about the division of Latin American support between himself and Seixas Corr�a: "Latins for P�rez del Castillo". In mid-February P�rez del Castillo campaigned in Washington: "Perez del Castillo in Washington in February", and in mid-March, in Brussels: "P�rez del Castillo goes to Brussels". In late March, he was endorsed by New Zealand: "New Zealand Endorses Perez del Castillo". P�rez del Castillo was nominated by a moderate government; in the Spring, a government of the left came to power. Would it continue to support him: "Will Uruguay's New Socialist Government Continue to Back P�rez del Castillo?"?
Mauritius Foreign and Trade Minister Jaya Krishna Cuttaree sought support among the Indian diaspora: "Cuttaree plays the ethnic card". The Cuttaree campaign has a web site: "Jaya Krishna Cuttaree" (I learned about this from Daniel Drezner). Cuttaree got the endorsement of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC): "Endorsements for Jaya Krishna Cuttaree". In early March, Cuttaree was in Brussels: "Jaya Krishna Cuttaree Visits Brussels". In mid-March he attended the G-20 developing country meetings in New Delhi ("Cuttaree goes to New Delhi"), where he thought he found Indian support: "Cuttaree and India". However, this later story from Mauritian sources expresses frustration over India's failure to back him: "India, Mauritius, and the WTO Director-General contest". Here is an early post linking to, and quoting from, an Indian column surveying the candidate-set from the Indian point-of-view: "An Indian View of the WTO-DG Candidates".
The Choice
At the end of March, start of April, the selection process changed. Candidates were no longer just making themselves known, now the General Council would begin a process of consultation, meant to lead to consensus around a single candidate: "Change of Pace Coming in the WTO Director-General Race".
On March 30, on the eve of this process, the odds on the candidates were available from the bookmaker, Ladbrokes: "Here are the odds on the WTO DG candidates:".
The Transition
What is involved in settling in to the office? Mike Moore of New Zealand, was selected for DG in 1999. His book on the WTO, A World Without Walls, sheds light on some of the problems he faced: "You Win the WTO DG Race. What Do You Do First?".
Last updated March 30, 2005
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