One of the main goals of the new World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system, established during the Uruguay Round, was to diminish the power disparities between large developed economies and smaller developing ones by giving the less developed countries a more accessible forum to air their trade grievances.

How has the system actually worked for developing countries? At this conference, Marc Busch of Georgetown University and Eric Reinhardt of Emory University, who have published a series of assessments of the new WTO dispute settlement system and its impact on developing countries, will present their findings. Timothy Reif, chief Democratic trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, and Jay Smith, a fellow at the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University Law Center, will respond.