Preface by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy

“History,” wrote James Baldwin, “does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.” It is in this spirit that I have commissioned The History and Future of the World Trade Organization. The purpose of this work is to not only tell us about our past, but to explain our present and to inform our future.