Rupture and Repair in the WTO Community

On 20 January 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared at Davos that, with respect to the post-War global order, ‘we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition’.1 Nowhere is that more in evident than in the global trading system, a system largely built and led by the USA. By publicly, dramatically, and repeatedly choosing coercion over trade, Trump has created a crisis in the WTO and in the global economic order generally.2 In view of this, it may seem an unlikely moment to bring forward a review of a book that relies in any way on the notion of the WTO being a community of any kind. After all, isn’t the very idea of the WTO called into question by the rogue actions of its most powerful member, and the apparent inability of other members, and the institution itself, to respond in any effective way? On the contrary—this is a key moment in which to carefully consider the argument Professor Chi Carmody offers in this important book. A Communitarian Theory of WTO Law can help us understand the nature of the WTO as a community, and offers a framework for assessing the significance of the current rupture and framing a response.