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The last multilateral trade negotiations chaired by the World Trade Organization encountered significant problems that might have led to the failure of the negotiations. We examine the workings of this negotiation process based on rules and power struggles. The increasing number of Member States, the rule of consensus, the assertion of emerging countries, and the absence of credible and powerful leadership all compounded the difficulties. This paper concludes with proposals aimed at reducing these problems, namely better quantification of reciprocity, multilateral agreements as a last resort, and the establishment of a credible deadline for negotiations.