Doha Debacle: Whats Next for Global Commerce

Progress toward unfettered international commerce stumbled last week with the collapse of the World Trade Organizations Doha talks, a seven-year effort to establish new global trade rules. The lengthy talks were complicated by the rapid emergence of China and India as major economic powers -- powers with commercial and strategic interests to protect, and the clout to do so. Many observers say the talks collapse is a setback for poorer nations, which need access to larger markets in order for their economies to grow. Wharton professors Stephen Kobrin, whose research interests include globalization, and Marshall Meyer, an authority on Chinas economy, recently spoke to Knowledge@Wharton about the talks collapse, global commerce and Chinas interest in the rules governing trade.