| "Most prominent amongst the new establishments is the WTO. Primarily focused on the achievement of political and economic recovery in North America, Europe and Asia, the WTO works in tandem with local governments to establish urban growth and stability while laying the foundation for a new global information network. WTO-funded habitats — called “enclaves” or “arcologies” — positioned in most major cities allow the WTO to exert its influence and discretion over everything from international travel to local trade." | ||||
| — Deus Ex: Invisible War description | ||||
The World Trade Organization (WTO) was an international organization designed to supervise and liberalize international trade. After the Collapse, it was newly incorporated as an attempt to unify the fractured world, starting with the global north.
Background[]
The original WTO came into being on 1 January 1995, and was the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was created in 1947, and continued to operate for almost five decades as a de facto international organization. At some point in its history (possibly from its very foundation), the WTO came under the control of the Illuminati.
The new World Trade Organization was incorporated shortly after the Collapse, in 2057, promising peace through trade, or at least flights on schedule and more shopping options. However, the first thing nanoformers typically put up when a WTO enclave appeared was a wall.[1] The new WTO went beyond being a simple mercantile alliance and was for all intents and purposes an attempt to recreate a global sysem of policing and governance, using trade as a tool to entice, control, and ultimately dominate human communities. All by design, of course, as the WTO is an Illuminati-controlled organization, led by one-time rebel Chad Dumier.
Organization[]
Rather than the MJ12's stick, the WTO prefers the carrot: It works with local governments, providing technology to post-collapse states (typically city states) in return for adopting WTO laws and surveillance.[2] This technology is commonly limited to enclaves, where the WTO elite and their local supporters live in luxury, and everyone else labors for their benefit. This network of enclaves and the aforementioned Charter System have reconnected many major cities and provided a tremendous boost to local economies, but have also greatly increased the WTO's power and put it at odds with the Order Church, which protests against the spread of materialism and consumerism every time a new enclave is incorporated.
The other aspect is the huge divide between the rich and the poor, with the rich few residing in fortified enclaves, while the poor many many live like feudal peasants in the streets of the post-Collapse world. The WTO doesn't limit its reach to just the enclaves either, as WTO troops and contractors are commonly found outside the enclave, cracking down on "illegal" technology use or violation of arbitrary commerce laws.
In the "Age of Light" ending of Deus Ex: Invisible War, it seems that the enclaves eventually merged together to create an ecumenopolis covering the entire planet. The WTO is presumably still in power in that outcome.
Gallery[]
- Pre-release
References[]
- ↑ Alex Denton: "Another thrill-packed afternoon, huh?"
Bar patron (WTO air terminal?): " Every time I look at a public terminal, we're one step closer to all-out war. WTO incorporation seemed like a good idea fifteen years ago. At first, the WTO meant planes always on schedule, more choices when you went shopping, more jobs... "
Alex Denton: "Maybe the WTO's just getting too big. System's not working as well as it used to." Bar patron: "WTO promised peace through trade, of course. I should've known when the first thing the nanoformers put up was a wall. Now you've got groups like The Order who are making more trouble every day BECAUSE of the WTO, especially their more extreme members. Meanwhile, people on the outside go hungry. Most people around here think that if you don't get accepted to an enclave, you must be lazy. I'm not so sure about that... Anyway... Thanks for helping me pass the time"
(M01WTOTermBarPatronF2Barks) - ↑ Loading screen: "The WTO provides technology to post-Collapse city-states that agree to submit to a certain level of surveillance and live under WTO laws."