Documents: 📄 Full Publication (PDF)
World Trade Organisation
Promoting economic prosperity through free trade.
Key Insights
Established in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is dedicated to facilitating global trade. To this end, the WTO oversees more than 60 treaties on removing trade barriers, facilitating market access and promoting economic growth. If a WTO member state is believed to violate trade rules, members have pledged not to take action unilaterally. Instead, the WTO provides a dispute settlement mechanism.
Written by Pablo Mathis
27 February 2023 · 00:00 CETUpdated 21 June 2026 · 18:25 CET
Cite this brief
Mathis, P. (2023). World Trade Organisation. EPIS Insight · International Relations & Diplomacy.
Continue Reading
Bilateralism & Multilateralism
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 nations that are primarily located in Europe. Starting off as the European Coal and Steel community, it has evolved into a broader union with shared citizenship beginning with the signing in Maastricht Treaty in 1992. The EU’s key ob…
Military Alliances
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance consisting of European and North American nations and it strives to ensure security and collective defence. 31 member states have committed to mutual defence in response to an armed attack by external parties. NATO’s primary obj…
International Cooperation
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member states that pursues a stimulation of economic progress and world trade. Its member countries describe themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy. The OECD provides…
International Agreements
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia, signed in the German cities of Münster and Osnabrück, ended the 30-Year War. Some scholars have argued that the treaty established the principles of legal equality and states having exclusive sovereignty over their territories. However, critics have doubted whether these …