Glossary
Plain-language definitions for terms you'll encounter in geopolitics and international economics.
MFN (Most-favored-nation) status
A WTO core principle requiring that any trade advantage one member grants to another (lower tariff, easier customs procedures, market access) must be extended to all other WTO members automatically. Permitted exceptions include free-trade areas and customs unions (GATT Article XXIV), preferential treatment for developing countries (the Enabling Clause), and national-security carve-outs (Article XXI). The 2022 US-EU coordination withdrawing MFN status from Russia in response to the Ukraine invasion was an unprecedented use of the Article XXI national-security exception applied multilaterally. The legal questions around what counts as a national-security justification under Article XXI are unresolved and likely to be tested further as state-on-state economic conflict intensifies.
Monroe Doctrine
A 19th-century US foreign policy stance, articulated in 1823, declaring opposition to European colonization or interference in the Western Hemisphere. Its modern legacy is shorthand for any great power claim to a regional sphere of influence.
Most-favored-nation (MFN)
A WTO principle requiring members to extend any trade advantage given to one country (e.g. a tariff reduction) to all other members. Exceptions exist for free-trade areas, customs unions, and developing-country preferences.