Paper Titles & Abstracts

In his 2012 inauguration speech, Vladimir Putin spoke of the need to strengthen Russia's "democracy, constitutional rights and freedoms"; rhetoric that played poorly against a background of violent protest and detention of hundreds. What are the real prospects for Russia's further democratisation and what can third parties do to influence it? The EU has long argued that Russian WTO membership is necessary if Russia is to democratise and rule of law be established. This suggests the EU has reached the limits of its capacity to affect developments within Russia: the WTO is their last best hope. However, given that Russia has so far evaded all advice and incentives to undertake constitutional change and reform its judicial system, it is not clear how and whether the WTO can succeed where others have failed. In the context of declining US hegemony and rising Chinese influence, this paper examines the tools available to the WTO and its recent record in effecting reform of states' domestic institutions and practices. It suggests too much hope has been pinned on the impact international structures, here in the form of WTO membership, can have and that the days of external structures triumphing over Russian agency are gone.