It's the Politics!—Global Trade Governance Beyond Technocracy

ABSTRACT The World Trade Organization (WTO) struggles to respond to the growing entanglement of trade and geopolitics. Drawing on existing scholarship and 20 in‐depth interviews with ambassadors and senior trade diplomats conducted in Geneva ahead of the 13th WTO Ministerial 2024, this article reveals a fundamental dilemma at the heart of contemporary trade governance. While the WTO remains institutionally anchored in a technocratic and market‐oriented understanding of trade—treating political and security concerns as exceptional or external—its core functions are increasingly shaped by political contestation among members. The analysis argues that technocratic siloization, reflected in the separation of trade from security and foreign policy concerns, constrains the organization's ability to address geoeconomic developments. Major power rivalries, particularly between the United States and China, and persistent divisions between developed and developing countries, have contributed to decision‐making paralysis and weakened judicial functions. Existing reform proposals largely focus on procedural fixes, while neglecting the underlying political drivers of institutional dysfunction. Amid persistent deadlock, some even call for replacing the WTO with an alternative organization. The article argues that safeguarding the WTO's relevance requires moving trade governance out of its technocratic silo by creating space for structured deliberation on the political dimensions of trade.