#101 The G|O Briefing, June 16, 2022
International Organizations are getting defensive — How to engage with China?
WTO
China steps up its defense against Western positions
On May 12, the Human Rights Council (HRC) passed a resolution to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to investigate possible war crimes in Ukraine. In previous UN votes condemning Russia, China abstained. Not this time. Along with Eritrea, it voted against it—with 33 members supporting the resolution and 12
Will the WTO be able to protect the poorest from a looming global food crisis?
The agricultural debate will take center stage at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) June Ministerial conference (MC12), and its dynamics will be shaped, in form but above all in substance, by the war in Ukraine.
Since the WTO operates by consensus, few trade experts and WTO watchers here expect
#97 The G|O Briefing, May 12, 2022
New accusations about Geneva's bogus 'universities' - Can the WTO help avert a catastrophic global food crisis?
At the World Trade Organization, a war–both inside and out
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 625-person-strong secretariat is the brain of the organization. It has no decision-making powers, its main duties being to supply impartial technical and professional support to WTO members. Reforming it was never going to be an easy task, but immediately after her nomination in March
#95 The G|O Briefing, April 28, 2022
G|O investigation: students denounce worthless diplomas from some of Geneva's private "universities" — WTO Secretariat reform still contentious
The war in Ukraine contaminates the work at the WTO
The war in Ukraine continues to disrupt the work of an already deadlocked World Trade Organisation (WTO). Across different committees, negotiations, and working groups, the mutual accusations between Kiev and Moscow are overshadowing all other issues.
A case in point was the March 24–25 meeting of the Committee on
#94 The G|O Briefing, April 21, 2022
China ratifies conventions against forced labor – The war continues to disrupt the WTO’s deliberations
#90 The G|O Briefing, March 17, 2022
Revealed: WHO Foundation weakens its guidelines on healthy food – Is Russia’s relationship with Geneva irreparably damaged? – A plea for all refugees
The war in Ukraine is transforming the dynamics of International Geneva
On Tuesday, March 1, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was about to deliver his video message to the Human Rights Council (HRC), an entire contingent of more than one hundred diplomats representing forty countries, European and others, bolted out of their seats and left the room. They gathered in