Bhutan's Quadrilemma: To Join or Not To Join the WTO, That is the Question

In: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Operationalization of Gross National Happiness. Thimphu, Centre for Bhutan Studies 2004, pp. 260-270 . ISBN 99936-14-22-X

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Abstract

This paper argues that any discussion of the operationalization of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan within an immediate or intermediate time-frame must account for the fact that operationalization implies the adoption of long-range policy objectives and immediate or intermediate policy decisions, made in real time, that aim at reaching those objectives. The discussion of any operationalizaton of GNH, therefore, cannot fruitfully take place in abstracto, because that implies a lack of seriousness in raising the subject in the first place. The paper seeks to outline, only briefly and suggestively, a framework within which discussion of the operationalization of GNH may take place, focusing on the question of Bhutan's possible entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). It concludes that a decision to operationalize GNH in Bhutan carries with it certain consequences that can be defined within the structure of the problem of choice, and that structure can best be considered as a quadrilemma. The potential consequences of choice must be taken into account in choosing for any particular set of policy directions and the potential cost must be accepted as part of the solution of the problem the quadrilemma suggests.