Literature on the accession of developing countries to the World Trade Organization (WTO) shows two opposing views on the effectiveness and efficiency of their system. In the light of these views, this study analyses the accession of Oman to the WTO and the consequences arising from this accession, focusing on the importance of international economic integration -as one of the key issues now facing Oman represented by the successful outcome of the Uruguay Round GATT negotiations establishing the WTO. In addition, it examines the importance of economic integration with Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) States, which is listed as amongst the most important policies that can help the Sultanate to benefit from the conditions of the international environment. In this context, the thesis explains the accession process of Oman and the commitments arising from its negotiations of accession. Moreover, the study provides an analysis of the WTO Agreements and their impacts for Oman in selected sectors and industries, these being: the petrochemical industry; the manufacturing industry; the agriculture sector, and the banking sector. This study leads to the conclusion that the trade policies framework of Oman imposes limitations and inefficiency in dealing with the WTO issues, so that only certain groups will benefit if these situations continue. From here, in order to face the negative consequences and maximize the benefits from her accession to the WTO, recommendations are suggested for Oman, these being: administrative reforms; according the private sector a greater role, and co-ordinating Oman's economic policies with those of other GCC States.

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The WTO is one piece in a complex network of international, regional and domestic legal systems and regulatory frameworks. The influences on the development of WTO law extend far beyond its own Members and institutions: domestic legal instruments have provided the inspiration for numerous WTO obligations while the rights and obligations under the covered agreements are frequently incorporated into the legal systems of the Membership. The WTO is home to numerous committees and working groups that also engage with other international bodies and their domestic counterparts. Transnational actors seek to take advantage of these networks, encouraging WTO law to develop in their favour. The interactions involved, however, are highly complex and unpredictable. By drawing on different models of causal explanation, it is possible to offer a perspective on the development of WTO law that accepts its role as part of a larger globalized process. Three different causal influences are identified: instrumental, systemic and constitutive. Together, they offer a prism through which to examine the development of WTO law as it responds to the behaviour of transnational actors, bridging gaps between international relations and law and, it is hoped, offering a convincing explanatory rationale for the way in which WTO law develops.

This thesis analyses the relationship between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the alter-globalization movement through the theoretical framework of Robert W. Cox. A Coxian perspective highlights that the WTO is a central international organization of the current nebuleuse, and one integral to enforcing, promoting and defending transnational corporate hegemony. The emergence of the protest movement inaccurately labelled the ‘anti-globalization movement’ can be described as a Coxian counter-hegemonic structure. From the plethora of protesters making up this ‘anti-globalization movement’ who dispute the legitimacy of the WTO, a distinct alter-globalization movement can be identified. It prescribes the alternative principles of public accountability, the rights of people and the protection of the environment as guides to reforming the WTO towards a Coxian ‘new multilateralism’. This thesis asks: to what extent has this alter-globalisation movement succeeded in altering the policies and processes of the WTO in accordance with these principles? In Coxian terms the questions of how far the campaign for ‘new multilateralism’ has successfully altered the hegemony of the current world order and avoided trasformismo are asserted. After illustrating corporate structural power within the WTO’s policies and procedures, the alter-globalisation movement is defined as an entity of overlapping social movements and Non-Governmental Organizations (Alter-NGOs). The thesis identifies and evaluates three strategies employed by the alter-globalisation movement to place its values at the heart of the WTO: demonstrations on the street; assisting developing states during negotiations; and submitting amicus briefs to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The obstacles presented by the WTO’s policy of trasformismo are then detailed, namely: political elites coopting the alter-globalization movement’s principles into their own rhetoric; the cooption of NGOs by political elites from the developing world, and the cooption of NGOs and the fierce rejection of any NGO influence within the WTO. In its conclusions the thesis details the manner in which trasformismo is a significant tool in the armoury of corporate hegemony for resisting reform, and thereby informs existing literature on the problems faced by all social movements and NGOs engaging with reforming the world order.