Foreword by the Director-General

This year’s World Trade Report explores the role of trade in a world characterized over the last several decades by increasing dependence among nations. This inter-dependency – what we all call globalization today – is a multi-layered and complex phenomenon involving intensive political, social and economic interaction nationally and internationally. Few would contest the benefits that globalization has brought in terms of greater prosperity for hundreds of millions, as well as greater stability among nations. But many individuals in different societies across the world have shared little or not at all in the benefits of globalization. The challenges facing national governments in managing globalization are formidable, and success in spreading prosperity more widely requires a strong common purpose.