The Panel Debate “International and European Perspectives on Trade in Global Governance” took place in the Norway House on the 30th of April. The participants were: Sandra Gallina, Deputy Director General, DG Trade; Miles Kahler, Professor, American University and Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Qingmin Zhang, Professor, Peking University and Samuel Sam-Sumana, politician and former Vice President, Sierra Leone. The introduction was given by GLOBE Project Coordinator Jacint Jordana. The Chair of the event was Jan Wouters, Jean Monnet Chair and Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies.

All participants looked closely at the intersection of trade and global governance in uncertain times, with special attention to perspectives from different regions of the world, including China, Europe, the United States and Africa.

The panelists agreed that over the past decades, both the volume and complexity of global trade have risen exponentially, with greater levels of liberalization, the rise of new trading powers, and advances in technology. Above all Miles Kahler argued that in recent years, increasing political contestation, a turn toward protectionism by major economic powers, and roadblocks at the multilateral level have put enormous pressure on the global trade regime. After the talks of all participants, all panelists agreed that the debate the complex dynamics of GG are currently reshaping the global trading system.