Friedl Weiss invites his readers to think about the reformability of the World Trade Organization in his chapter “The WTO – A Suitable Case for Treatment? Is it Reformable?” in the book “The Reform of International Economic Governance”. The striking feature of the chapter rests in its accurate metaphors, which makes it attractive also for the audience going beyond the community of scholars. As an example might serve the metaphor comparing globalization to the elements of universe as known from astrophysics, consisting of the dark energy pushing the universe apart and the gravity, pulling it together. In the Weiss's view, the socio-economic dimension of globalization might resemble to dark energy, while on the other hand, the legal-institutional dimension is akin to gravity (disclaimer: this is not the only metaphor in the text). So, is this human-made chaos comparable to the mysteries of the universe reformable, or is it only a vital subject of studies, which will only reveal something of its structure, while not allowing any substantial changes of its underlying character? Is the effort to reform the World Trade Organization as burdensome as the attempt to make the planet Mars habitable? Fortunately, every man-made chaos is for the man to solve and that is true also for the global economic governance and the World Trade Organization. Friedl Weiss takes us on the journey which led to the creation of the World Trade Organization in its present form, on which we learn that the World Trade Organization has evolved in a form of organization comparable to the one of the United Nations. Moreover, despite its elitist nature often criticized for a lack of transparency, the author reveals that its structure is in certain aspects maybe even more democratic than the one of the United Nations. Even though its democratic standards are not perfect, there are certain undisputable and inherent democratic foundations, which – when developed – might contribute to the evolution of a more democratic and vital World Trade Organization.
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