The 1999 World Trade Organization Protests in Seattle, Washington have effectively brought the protest movement back to the forefront as a medium for getting attention. While they caused major destruction of property and captivated media outlets for days, the protestors themselves were exploited more than their cause. While we heard they were 'protesting' the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its practices, we were never given specifics regarding this information through the media. I believe the Seattle protestors were successful in focusing attention on where an organization (the WTO) was meeting and crystallizing new methods of protest communication, but not necessarily in getting across the message of why some WTO policies are so controversial.
According to the WTO website, the WTO
is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business (www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/whatis_e.htm).
The WTO was established in January of 1995 as a result of its creation during the Uruguay Round Negotiations and is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The Uruguay Round Negotiations was a series of trade treaty talks that took place between 1986-1994 in Uruguay, a country in South America. As of July of 2001, there are 142 member countries in the WTO, with China not being one of them. China is negotiating heavily to become a member and is under consideration for membership by the end of 2002. The organization sports a secretarial staff of 500 people and in 2000, boasted a budget of 127 million Swiss francs or $74.7 million US dollars. The present head of the WTO, the Director-General, is Mike Moore.
The main functions of the WTO, according to their web...