Russia in WTO: interests, policy autonomy, and deliberations

The author examines the role of Russia's WTO accession in shaping institutional adaptation across several important dimensions, arguing that WTO accession has generated more scope for pro-trade as opposed to protectionist domestic interest groups, constrained the scope of trade policy, and made more and better information available to deliberations by business and the public related to trade. Adjustments to Russian legislation and trade policies through the lengthy accession process have, it is argued, helped elicit more transparent forms of business-government coordination. The article also explores the role of Russia's WTO commitments in shaping the functioning of the Eurasian Customs Union formed in 2010. The crisis in Russia's relations with the EU and the US, initially sparked by contending projects of regional economic integration, will be a major challenge for the WTO's agenda-setting and conflict management functions, a test having implications for the broad question of relevance of the WTO in an atmosphere of renewed geopolitical tensions among major powers.