The institutionalization of strategic planning and foresight in the World Trade Organization how to be relevant in the 21st century

Abstract

This capstone project recommends that Members of the World Trade Organization request the development of internal institutional capacity for the institutionalization of strategic planning and foresight practice, as a pathway to reinvigorate the Organization's deliberations and for it to remain relevant in the 21st century. This is achieved by, first, identifying forces that influence deliberations taking place in the WTO; second, identifying organizational areas for awareness and potential adaptation: channels, methods and research agenda. These areas cover, respectively, potential agents of change, placed in key positions in deliberations; processes used in the deliberative practice and how they could be enhanced to facilitate convergence-building; the Secretariat’s analytical productions and approaches that could bring more efficacy to Members’ deliberations. Finally, different institutionalization options are suggested, as well as possible formats, placement, culture and configuration, to provide a tangible course of action from this paper looking forward.