After a bruising, eight-month battle, the World Trade Organization has a new director general. Actually, the WTO now has two director generals, although they will not be occupying the office at the same time. In a solution that optimists will call Solomonic, but is at best "diplomatic" -- with all the ambivalences that word contains -- the 134 members of the general council agreed this week to split the difference. Mr. Mike Moore, the former prime minister of New Zealand, will lead the WTO for three years; when his term expires, Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Thailand's deputy prime minister, will take over for the next three years. Neither term is renewable.
The relief felt with the ending of the dispute has been tempered by the terms of the deal itself. A WTO spokesman conceded that it "wasn't considered a fully satisfactory compromise"; a less diplomatic diplomat said it left a "sour taste." Even Bangladesh, which offered the plan, described it as "the least bad proposal." All agree that it is the only practicable solution. Let us hope it is in fact workable.
The new director general has a full plate. First, he must prepare for the next round of trade talks that is scheduled to begin in Seattle in November. They may prove to be the most difficult trade negotiations ever because of their scope, the increasing volatility of the global economy and the growing skepticism about the fairness of the world trade regime. Mr. Moore is instantly handicapped in his work since the talks will continue long after his term in office expires. In other words, he is already a lame duck, and he will have only limited ability to influence the negotiations. Mr. Supachai may preside over their conclusion, but he too will be constrained by the fact that he will only take office considerably after the talks have begun. He may be powerless to guide negotiations that have assumed a momentum of their own.