What you’ll learn to do: explain the historical role of GATT in international trade and the WTO’s impact on international trade

In the post–World War II environment, countries came to realize that a major component of achieving any degree of global peace was global cooperation—politically, economically, and socially. The intent was to level the trade playing field and reduce economic areas of disagreement, since inequality in these areas could lead to more serious conflicts. Among the initiatives, nations agreed to work together to promote free trade and entered into bilateral and multilateral agreements. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) resulted from these agreements. In this section, you’ll review GATT—learn why it was created and what its historical successes and challenges have been. You’ll then look at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which replaced GATT in 1995, and study the impact of both these organizations on international trade. While GATT started as a set of rules between countries, the WTO has become an institution overseeing international trade.

Learning Activities

The learning activities for this section include:

• Video: GATT/WTO
• Reading: International Economic Cooperation among Nations
• Self Check: GATT and the WTO

Take time to review and reflect on this activity in order to improve your performance on the assessment for this section.