U.S. Congressman: Link Russia’s WTO accession and human rights

I missed this statement from Congressman David Dreier earlier this week on Russia’s potentially imminent WTO accession: In our relationship with Moscow, we must learn to balance the twin imperatives of effective engagement and criticism of gross miscarriages of justice.  This will only become more essential in the context of the coming debate on Russia’s ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

I missed this statement from Congressman David Dreier earlier this week on Russia's potentially imminent WTO accession:

I missed this statement from Congressman David Dreier earlier this week on Russia’s potentially imminent WTO accession:

In our relationship with Moscow, we must learn to balance the twin imperatives of effective engagement and criticism of gross miscarriages of justice.  This will only become more essential in the context of the coming debate on Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization.
 
Russia has moved closer than ever to acceding to the WTO.  We are likely to face this prospect in the coming year and the resulting vote on whether to extend Permanent Normal Trade Relations.  We will need to have a full and robust debate on this issue.  We will need to ensure that PNTR in not granted until we have confirmed that Russia has fulfilled the basic obligations that WTO membership demands.

You can bet that the Obama administration, which has been working hard to get Moscow into the WTO, will push back aggressively against any Capitol Hill roadblocks. In general, I wonder if Congress will toughen scrutiny of Russia’s human rights record in part because it wants to be tough on China but is too scared of the consequences for the relationship.  

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.