The WTO new national security challenge

National security is now frequently invoked by states in their efforts to reclaim sovereignty delegated to the WTO. The national security exception is resorted to by some states as a way to exit the WTO as a system. The Chapter presents the interpretative scenarios of ‘essential security’ and ‘national security’ clauses discussed in legal scholarship before the recent rise of cases at the WTO, as well as the most recent reports of the WTO panels. It also presents similar developments in the broader field of international investment law. While the major concern raised, and the focus of recent scholarship in international economic law has been on the nexus between economics and national security, the Chapter suggests that the real challenge for the WTO as it relates to national security is the rise of digital globalization.