A friend invited me to go to a demonstration against the WTO in Geneva last week. Negotiators for a small group of countries were holding closed-door sessions, trying to save the Doha Round. Farmers and fishermen and NGOs had come from around the world to protest. Then on Monday, July 24th, the talks collapsed. The demonstration had been scheduled for the following Thursday, and in light of the new circumstances it was converted from a protest into a celebration.

The demonstrators assembled at the edge of Lake Geneva, and then marched along the lake to the WTO building. A small flotilla of boats, with banners flying, accompanied us from just off-shore. As we were approaching the building, a Dutch journalist and cameraman wanted to ask us a question. Actually, they wanted to ask my friend a question, and at first I was secretly envious. The journalist asked her, "The Doha Round of talks is also referred to as the 'development round.' Why are you happy that it failed, if the development round is good for developing countries?" As I watched my friend remain cool and calm I realized that I probably wouldn't have done the same in front of the camera, and I suddenly switched from envious to being secretly thankful that they hadn't chosen me. And it gave me an opportunity, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, to think about what I would have said.

Not knowing much about the details of the Doha Round, I would have taken out my laptop, searched for the nearest wireless network, and surfed to the NGO Web site that has this article that explains why calling the Doha Round a development round is a farce.

Then I would have said that my reservations about the WTO go much deeper than just the Doha Round: The WTO is an inherently undemocratic organization. Like some other international organizations, the WTO's predecessor (GATT) was created by the powerful countries still standing after World War II, with advantages for those countries, and safeguards to protect their advantages. For example, the founding countries each have a veto. Structural reform of the organization is therefore essentially impossible, because any proposal that recommends a more even distribution of power within the WTO will be vetoed by one of the founding members. Those with power don't usually give it up voluntarily.

Not only is the WTO undemocratic at the international level, it is undemocratic at the local level. Democracy requires accountability. If the residents of my town are not happy with our elected officials, we must be able to vote them out of office. But this is not possible with the WTO. If we think the actions taken by the WTO affect us adversely, there is no one we can kick out of office. None of the officials that we vote for have anything to do with international trade, which is usually the mandate of a trade minister, and in many countries (like Switzerland), the trade minister is appointed. It's hard for me to believe that the Swiss trade minister has our interests at heart. How can he, when he doesn't know what our interests are?

This is just one of the reasons why it can be argued that the WTO looks after the interests of its most powerful member countries -- and the multinational corporations with headquarters in those countries. But the Dutch journalist wouldn't need to ask me about the Doha Round. He'd be better off asking the farmers and fishermen who had come to Geneva from around the world, to make their voices heard in the only manner available to them.

Ask the farmer from India who told of the thousands of farmers who have committed suicide since the WTO was established in 1995. Ask the Philippine fishermen who came to Geneva and bought the supplies to construct simple fishing boats, so that they could paddle along with the small flotilla. Or ask the Korean farmers, who formed a kind of mock funeral procession with a decorated coffin, to signify the death of the Doha Round. Along the route the leader of the group chanted rhythmically in Korean, and the rest of his group echoed him. At regular intervals he would chant in English, "Down, down, WTO!"

Better to ask these people why they want the Doha Round to fail. And then ask them how many tens of millions of people just like them are back home.