The core of this book is a brief but fine history of the post-1945 international trade regime. It is useful for anyone either coming to the subject for the first time or wishing to be reminded of the dynamics surrounding the major multilateral trade negotiations over the past half century. This core provides a case study of national and individual leadership in international negotiations, which is of special interest to political scientists, and a discussion of why international negotiations succeed or fail. Three forms of leadership -- structural (deriving mainly from a dominant economic position), entrepreneurial, and intellectual -- are distinguished. All played roles in the multilateral trade negotiations and the creation of the World Trade Organization. The book ultimately considers the evolution of the international trade regime to be a marked success in the realm of international cooperation, despite there being fiercely opposing domestic interests within many countries.
