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📅 Join the next one.Notes from the Open Dialogue held on July 15th
As headlines cycle through trade wars and new economic rifts, beneath the surface a far deeper debate is unfolding: What should global trade be for, and who should decide its rules? These questions animated the latest “Senterej Moment” dialogue, a rare forum bringing together seasoned advocates, analysts, and funders to map the roots — and futures — of our trade system in crisis.
The discussion featured Lori Wallach, Director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Project and a 30-year veteran of trade battles; Dr. Jodie Keane, Principal Research Fellow at ODI Global focusing on the climate-trade nexus; and Dr. Lebohang Liepollo Pheko, a leading African futures thinker with the Trade Collective and a member of the Club of Rome. Tom Kruse, director of Global Challenges at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund moderated, speaking from his unique position as one of the few philanthropy program directors supporting trade policy work.
It was an intense learning for many of us! For the full dialogue, richer quotes, and granular analysis, read the more comprehensive discussion notes or watch the recording here.
Lori Wallach (Rethink Trade) provided what she called crucial “level-setting” on the true origins of the global trading order. She traced how negotiators like Keynes at Bretton Woods had once hoped for an architecture that balanced trade with labour rights and strong democratic oversight. As Wallach put it, ambitious domestic climate policies, such as renewable energy subsidies, now “face trade challenges based on decades-old rules designed for a fossil fuel economy.”
The original GATT strictly covered trade in physical goods ‘that you can drop on your foot’, giving countries strong tools to defend domestic interests. Yet, over decades of “capture” by corporate interests, many so-called “trade” agreements now shape everything from patents to climate policy, locking countries — particularly developing ones — into systems that narrow their economic sovereignty. The game changed in the 1990s, as corporate interests expanded trade’s remit and shifted key decisions and rigidity into the newly formed WTO, where rules could now be enforced even against member state objections: “The GATT had the usual safeguard…of requiring consensus for a decision. The WTO requires a consensus to stop decisions”.
Dr. Jodie Keane (ODI Global), speaking from Morocco, drew attention to the intersection of trade, climate, and regional integration. While many high-income countries are “building walls,” African states, said Keane, “are building bridges.” She emphasised vibrant regional cooperation in Africa and ASEAN as evidence of new forms of economic governance—and a counter current to the global gridlock. Importantly, Keane argued, the search for climate justice and effective trade policy goes deeper than negotiating new treaties. It demands a rethink of the economic models underlying trade—especially those that have obscured long-term planetary and social costs. “Let’s not blame trade for everything,” she advised. “Let’s think about the modelling, the assumptions, and also the governance and the institutions around it.” Rather than scrap the existing system, many countries—particularly in the Global South—are demanding reform: “We just need the current system to work…to be reformed,” not simply be replaced.
Dr. Liepollo Pheko (Trade Collective, Club of Rome) reframed trade as a theatre of historic and ongoing power struggle: “A tool of dominance, conditionality…primarily economic and financial rather than overt political occupation.” Drawing from the collective memory of colonisation, Pheko insisted the legacy of unequal trade arrangements continues to shape present realities, with agreements that often reinforce patterns of dependency under new guises. But, Pheko stressed, there are now countries actively “taking back power” — rejecting inherited constraints and demanding reparative justice. For her, the goal is not only policy reform but a broader transformation that centres restorative justice and acknowledges historical wrongs.
Tom Kruse (Rockefeller Brothers Fund), as moderator and funder, offered a unique vantage point. He noted that philanthropic institutions rarely support work on trade policy, often underestimating its centrality to social change, climate action, and democratic accountability. He argued for greater philanthropy sector involvement, recognizing that trade policy “regulates enormous slices of domestic sovereignty,” shaping everything from medicine access to climate mitigation.
This isn’t just a trade crisis—it’s a systemic obstacle to human progress on multiple fronts simultaneously. Anyone working on health, climate, inequality, democracy, technology, or development needs to understand how these rules operate, because they’re probably blocking the changes you’re fighting for.
The system that seemed unshakeable is increasingly fragile. Regional alternatives are emerging, institutional legitimacy is cracking, and more people are connecting trade rules to the issues they care about.
Understanding this architecture isn’t specialist knowledge—it’s essential literacy for anyone serious about systemic change in the 21st century.
The dialogue probed the path forward in times of polycrisis:
As Wallach noted, unless the fundamentals are re-examined, superficial reform won’t solve the underlying tensions. Keane and Pheko, meanwhile, pointed to both the necessity and possibility of transformation—through better models, memory, and movements reclaiming agency.
Read our comprehensive dialogue notes for the complete story of how we got here, detailed analysis of what’s not working, and insights into what successful transformation looks like. Or watch the recording here
Lori Wallach is Director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Project and a 30-year veteran of trade battles. She has been at the forefront of exposing how trade agreements have expanded far beyond traditional commerce to constrain democratic governance worldwide.
Dr. Jodie Keane is Principal Research Fellow at ODI Global, focusing on the climate-trade nexus. She works directly with developing country negotiators and brings crucial insights from inside international institutions about both the possibilities and limitations of reform.
Dr. Lebohang Liepollo Pheko is a leading African futures thinker with the Trade Collective and a member of the Club of Rome. Speaking from experience across 52 countries, she brings essential perspectives on decolonizing trade and centring reparative justice in economic transformation.
Tom Kruse, Director of Global Challenges at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, moderated the discussion from his unique position as one of the few philanthropy program directors supporting trade policy work, highlighting the field’s crucial under-resourcing despite its central importance.