In December, 1999, the streets of Seattle, Washington, filled with billowing clouds of tear gas and pepper spray as squadrons of police in full riot gear skirmished with surging masses of protestors in the most confrontational political demonstrations in the United States in nearly three decades. The angry crowds were there to confront delegates from 135 member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) who were meeting to hammer out an agenda for the next round of negotiations to regulate international trade.

Few people in America had ever heard of the WTO before the historic protest in Seattle, and yet, this exclusive body has power that affects us all. Created in 1995 by an international treaty, the WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Grade (GATT), established at the end of the World War II to eliminate tariffs and trade barriers...