The indefinite suspension of the Doha round of world trade talks creates big risks for the world economy. A new explosion of discriminatory bilateral and regional agreements is likely to substitute for global liberalisation. This will inevitably erode the multilateral rules-based system of the World Trade Organisation. The backlash against globalisation will generate more protectionism in the vacuum left as momentum towards wide-ranging reduction of barriers ceases, especially as the world economy slows and global trade imbalances continue to rise. Financial markets will become more unstable as international economic co-operation breaks down further.

Hence there is an urgent need for a "plan B" to get world trade policy back on track. That strategy should have three key objectives: to spur the revival of Doha; to offer an ambitious alternative to restart the process of liberalisation on the widest possible basis if that primary goal fails; and to counter the proliferation of preferential deals among small groups of countries.