ARTICLE: "U.K.'s Brown Is Optimistic on Global-Trade Deal: Leader Pushes Pact As Means to Defy Protectionist Talk," by Alistair MacDonald, John W. Miller and Daniel Hertzberg, Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2008, p. A9.

This has been the silent, looming question for me on the food crisis (on top of the sub-prime plus energy crises): does the Doha round get a lift?

The first to publicly say so is the UK's PM Brown, who "has become a key figure in the efforts to reach a trade deal."

The other big push? Getting it done before the prez election, meaning the world assumes Bush does the right thing, and I think he's more than ready.

Indeed, absent some breakthrough in the Middle East, this my be the administration's last big shot at a global win.

Let's cross our fingers.