Conflicting Justice Notions in the World Trade Organization: Sweden as a Broker

Abstract

This article focuses on how Sweden, as a member of the European Union, has acted as a broker between the conflicting justice notions of developing and developed WTO members. Drawing on the author’s experiences as a participating Swedish trade negotiator, the article concentrates on selected Swedish actions and measures taken between the inception of the WTO in 1995 and 2008, when the latest, and probably also last, full attempt to move the Doha round to a close ended in failure. Have the measures taken contributed to a reduction of the conflicting justice notions, and if so, how has this impacted on the process and the outcome? In addition, the article examines the question of how the pursuit of justice, and the management of conflicting justice notions, can aid practitioners to set up more efficient negotiation processes which lead to higher quality and more durable outcomes.