On 9 September 2026, the Rio School on Global Governance, Democracy and Human Rights was honored to welcome Gabriella Dorlhiac, Executive Director for ICC Brasil. The course is held by the FGV Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme and directed by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida.

In her lecture, moderated by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, Gabriella assessed a central question: ‘Is multilateralism dying, or is it just changing shape?’. She began by contextualizing the current uncertainty in international trade, caused by one of the most conflict-ridden times in recent history. When the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created in 1995, it grew from 23 members in the original GATT to over 160 today, but its success was also its problem: it became hard to operate based on consensus, and the agenda did not include modern problems like tech regulation and the environment. The institution was slow to discuss and advance the grievances that states had. In addition, in 2017 the US began declining consent to Appellate Body appointments: a single decision led to essential paralysis.

Considering these challenges, Gabriella argued that, when multilateral rules weaken, the vacuum is usually filled by the strongest actors. In April 2025, the US adopted a major unilateral shift in its trade policy, hitting over 60 trading partners with tariff increases. She presented substitutions that states have been developing to address what the WTO is not solving, in an attempt to create more stability and resilience in their supply chains. For instance, there are big agreements (e.g., the EU-Mercosur one) and unilateral solutions (e.g., the CBAM and the EUDR). However, each of these alternatives has costs, like lack of accountability and unpredictability. The conclusion of the lecture was that plurilateral agreements are the way forward, but built inside the legal framework, so as to integrate the rules into the multilateral framework over time. The choice is not just between the WTO and nothing: it is between negotiated rule and imposed rule. 

We warmly thank Gabriella Dorlhiac for sharing her knowledge with us. We look forward to further collaboration.