The WTO is the global body that sets and enforces the rules of international trade

The GATT and its successor, the WTO, were established to lower trade barriers

Signed in 1947, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade began systematically reducing tariffs and trade barriers among member nations. In 1995, it was replaced by the World Trade Organization, which expanded those rules and established a formal dispute settlement system.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and its successor, the WTO, was formed to reduce trade barriers between nations

Data from the WTO shows that this effort was successful, resulting in a quadrupling of global trade in goods and a reduction of tariff rates of member states by 44%. This indicates that the post-World War II international efforts to create a more liberal trade environment have been successful.

The history of the World Trade Organization

This episode of the "Brettonomics with Nancy Jackson" podcast explores the history of the WTO and its predecessor, the GATT, revealing the key people, negotiations, and decisions that shaped today's international trade rules.

China joined the WTO in 2001

After 15 years of negotiation, China joined the WTO as the 143rd member. This move gave it access to the global market in exchange for commitments to economic liberalization, despite skepticism from existing members about integrating a state-controlled economy into a free-market system.

The WTO's dispute settlement system has been effectively paralyzed

The US has blocked appointments to the WTO's appellate body since 2017, arguing that the panel has overstepped its mandate. Without a functioning appeals court, the WTO can no longer enforce rulings or settle disputes.

Trump's 2025 tariffs represent a significant break from the rules-based trade order

The Trump administration imposed broad tariffs on other countries outside WTO rules in 2025, claiming that those countries had long violated trade agreements and that the US was simply leveling the playing field.

The World Bank, IMF, and WTO all face calls for structural reform

Researchers argue that all three major institutions face legitimacy and effectiveness challenges, including outdated governance structures, unequal voting power, and difficulty adapting to a more multipolar world.

The G20 emerged from the 1997 Asian financial crisis as a forum for managing the global economy

Established in 1999 and elevated to a leaders' summit during the 2008 financial crisis, the G20 now unites the world's largest economies to address issues that the Bretton Woods institutions were not designed to manage.

The IMF was created to prevent the currency crises that destabilized the 1930s global economy

Founded in 1945, the IMF monitors exchange rates, promotes financial stability, and provides emergency funding to countries that cannot pay for their imports. It currently has 191 member countries and acts as a lender of last resort for struggling economies.

A UN-led treaty may establish rules to phase out plastic globally

With support from more than 175 nations, a treaty led by the United Nations is being negotiated to establish enforceable global rules for plastic production and pollution by 2025. Negotiations come as the total amount of plastic in the ocean has increased by 50% from 2017 to 2022.

The international trademark framework is called the Madrid Protocol

Trademarks vary from country to country, but an agreement called the Madrid Protocol allows trademark protections across more than 100 participating countries. While the Madrid Protocol expands trademark access, it doesn't necessarily grant blanket protections across the participating countries, meaning each country is still in charge of its own trademark enforcement.

The WEF’s ‘Davos Manifesto’ is a set of guiding principles for the event

In 2020, these principles were updated for the first time in more than 40 years to include “stakeholder capitalism,” the idea that a company’s purpose is “to engage all its stakeholders in shared and sustained value creation.”

Key milestones in the history of the World Health Organization

The World Health Organization, a UN agency founded in 1948, was first proposed at the 1945 UN Conference to coordinate global health efforts. This interactive timeline marks the WHO’s 75th anniversary with major public health milestones.

There are 6 primary governing bodies at the UN

The United Nations is structured around six main bodies: the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice, and Secretariat. Each plays a distinct role in promoting peace, justice, and cooperation worldwide.

Commodity trading is regulated by the CFTC to mitigate fraud and risk

Established in 1974, the CFTC regulates these markets (including swaps, futures, and certain types of options) to protect market participants from fraud, ensure fair trading conditions, and generally reduce financial risk.

During the Cold War, the rules-based order was largely limited to the West

The Soviet Union and its allies operated outside the Bretton Woods institutions, meaning the postwar liberal order functioned as a regional rather than a truly global system. This changed with the USSR's collapse in 1991.

The League of Nations was the predecessor to the UN—and the US never joined

The League of Nations—established in 1920 after World War I—was the first global organization aimed at maintaining world peace. Although US President Woodrow Wilson championed its creation, the United States never joined.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

View the ecosystem of global services, organizations, and agencies behind the internet

Through an open, transparent, and collaborative model built on open standards development and shared global ownership, the internet is kept freely accessible amid evolving international policies. Key organizations, such as IANA, which allocates IP addresses and fulfills administrative functions for the Domain Name System, function as non-profit organizations.

The world's maritime traffic in real-time

More than 50,000 ships are sailing the high seas on any given day, representing the highest volume pathway for international trade. This real-time traffic provides a visual impression of the scale of ocean-bound commerce.

OPEC can roll out production cuts among its members to control oil’s global supply and price

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was created to coordinate and unify petroleum policies to secure fair and stable prices. During the pandemic, for instance, the organization pushed through production cuts in an attempt to stabilize prices.

The ABCs and FAQs on GMOs from the WHO.

GMOs (or genetically modified organisms) are a subject of great debate in the food world…but how come? GMOs are organisms whose genetic materials have been altered in a way that does not occur naturally in order to create a product that has a...

The commerce clause gives the federal government authority to regulate interstate economic activity

This short constitutional provision has allowed Congress to regulate everything from wheat production to racial segregation, greatly expanding federal power by linking national authority to interstate economic activity.

What is the International Criminal Court?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and tries individuals charged with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. The ICC’s website provides facts, figures, and key elements defining how the court...

How the soccer World Cup works

The World Cup is the biggest game in the world. Watch this video to learn how it works and how it came to be such a massive world event.

The Office of Water protects the nation's rivers, lakes and drinking supplies

The office develops national standards for safe drinking water, regulates wastewater treatment, and enforces the Clean Water Act. It partners with states and tribes to monitor pollution, protect wetlands, and restore aquatic ecosystems across the United States.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.