While the objectives sought in a WTO investment agreement may be sound, the analysis and approach to negotiating such an agreement have revealed serious problems. We recommend that governments move quickly to define a more realistic and productive agenda. As a point of departure, they need to recognize that the existing network of bilateral agreements already provides a robust and effective regime; WTO negotiations should aim to complement and strengthen this network rather than replace it. Additionally, they need to accept that investment flows are affected by different factors and considerations than the exchange of goods and most services, requiring a different set of rules and procedures held together by a different architecture than that which applies to trade in goods. Finally, they need to accept that pursuing special and differential treatment for developing countries, which has already done immeasurable harm to the interests of developing countries in the context of trade in goods, is even more perverse and counterproductive in the context of investment rules.