Arab States in Turmoil Are Struggling to Join the WTO

Two tiny countries are celebrating the end of their long journeys to join the World Trade Organization. But for nations still too unstable to clear the club’s bar for membership, there’s a more somber reality outside the international trading system.

Economic and political turmoil make it difficult for some nations in the Middle East to meet the requirements to move through the WTO’s accession process, according to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the organization’s director-general.