Extending the Analysis

The present chapter extends the goal-based analytic framework applied in Parts II and III of the book to an additional category of disputes filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement System (DSS)—those reflecting the growing friction between the WTO’s multilateral trade regime and the network of regional trade agreements (RTAs) proliferating around the globe. Looking at a series of prominent RTA-related cases that came before the WTO DSS, the extensive analysis carried out in this chapter shows that the dynamic reality of goal shifts and goal conflicts experienced within the DSS is not unique to trade-and and perennial disputes. Similar processes can be observed in the histories of other classes of WTO disputes, an analysis of which is likely to disclose different DSS goal-attainment patterns evidencing new goal priorities and trade-offs, and resulting in varying dimensions of judicial effectiveness and ineffectiveness, adjusted to the new operational environments.