Abstract
The failure of the WTO Ministerial Conference last December in Seattle was due to the unsettled network of conflicting interests of the member countries. What happened in the street of Seattle has not determined the outcome of the meeting. However, it would be a mistake to downplay the political role that the civil society can have on globalisation issues. Many of these topics are highly emotive and certain slogans are misused. This brings about misleading information that is amplified in public opinion by the media thanks to the clever choreography managed by these groups. Globalisation certainly requires corrections, but it needs mainly a good public relations office. In this paper, after having presented some stylised facts on globalisation, world poverty and income distribution looks at some of the current issues on the WTO's agenda.