As I board a plane in Geneva, I know you all want a debrief and final thoughts on the last 3 days. Pull up your chair.

The 7th WTO Ministerial Conference concluded successfully yesterday without a hitch. The closing ceremony was about an hour (shorter than expected), but once again I blinked too soon. I hear that a handful of protestors snuck into the complex of the Ministerial with candles and signs that said: "Doha is dead." If Doha was dead, I would not be coming to Geneva as much as I do -- twice within the last month and thrice since May.

Several of my other colleagues from the business community have been here as well. Doha is certainly not dead and the United States is not the sole reason that Doha has not concluded since it started over 8 years ago. Last time I checked, there were 152 other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Chamber, the U.S. Business Community, the Obama Administration and Congress want Doha to succeed!!! Anyone who says otherwise is lying or spinning the truth.

One thing is absolutely crystal clear about where we stand on Doha after the last 3 days (and longer frankly): The United States says what it means. I wish the same was true for other key players. Ambassador Kirk was crystal clear this week that about the best way to move forward to a successful conclusion. The key players, which include at least the U.S., EU, Brazil, China and India, need to begin endgame negotiations on what the final package needs to look like to be politically saleable. The current process and negotiating structure simply has not worked. There is no secret to the U.S. negotiating position. And there is no light between the Administration, Congress and business community position that we need clarity about what’s on the table and that only creative thinking will get us to where we want to be. Deadlines and timetables will not get us a successful agreement, only a deal with tangible and substantive benefits will get us to the red zone with the end zone in striking distance. Some say that Doha is 80 percent finished, but I feel like 80 percent of the negotiation has been posturing and gamesmanship. Do countries really TRULY want Doha to succeed?

Now a few words about the chess game of the Doha Round, which has seen many players (and a WTO Director General) come and go. Many of you will recall my countless rants about the former Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath during the July 2008 Ministerial. In some ways, it appears that the baton has been passed on from Nath to the Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. Why do I say this?

It is quite clear the Amorim is a leading proponent (if not the leading proponent) of completely blaming the United States for the current gridlock in Doha. His behavior during the Ministerial backs this up. Unfortunately, I could not find a news story to back this up, but I heard from two people that, before the Ministerial even started, he said that Doha was going to have to wait for the next President of the United States to conclude -- or something along those lines. Additionally, I attended a press conference on Wednesday morning where Amorim and Trade Ministers  from other developing and advanced developing  countries were taking about a newly sealed south-south trade preferences deal. When asked by a reporter if this program was backtracking from Doha, Amorim curtly stated: "I'm not trying to unravel Doha like some countries are." Clearly he was referring to the United States.

Not once has Ambassador Kirk, or any Administration official, said that the U.S. was going to walk away from what has already been negotiated. Perhaps Amorim becomes confused that he wears a few hats for the Brazilian government: Foreign Minister and lead trade negotiator. Doha doesn't need more gamesmanship and finger pointing. It needs serious people to work together to get a deal done. It is much too early for Brazilian Presidential politics (election due in October 2010) to be playing into Doha. One of my biggest criticisms of Nath during the July 2008 Ministerial was that he was much more interested in campaigning than negotiating.

Ok. So here is my (non-Chamber sanctioned) prediction on Doha: 2010 will be the most successful year in Doha since the Round was launched; Negotiating Ministerial before the end of the year; final agreement in 2011.