Putin on international organizations

Russia is on the cusp of joining the World Trade Organization, but you wouldn’t know it from Vladimir Putin’s speech at the United Russia party conference, where he received the party’s nomination to run for president. Putin said not a word about the imminent accession, which could have important implications for Russia’s economy. Indeed, the ...

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

Russia is on the cusp of joining the World Trade Organization, but you wouldn't know it from Vladimir Putin's speech at the United Russia party conference, where he received the party's nomination to run for president. Putin said not a word about the imminent accession, which could have important implications for Russia's economy. Indeed, the only arguable reference in the speech to a multilateral organization was to Putin's cherished Eurasian Union:

Russia is on the cusp of joining the World Trade Organization, but you wouldn’t know it from Vladimir Putin’s speech at the United Russia party conference, where he received the party’s nomination to run for president. Putin said not a word about the imminent accession, which could have important implications for Russia’s economy. Indeed, the only arguable reference in the speech to a multilateral organization was to Putin’s cherished Eurasian Union:

We are witnessing a serious transformation of the global economy as new centres of geopolitical influence are emerging….The new Eurasian Union project fully meets the exigencies of the present day with new opportunities for people, business, trade and investment, for cooperation in culture, science and education, with solid guarantees of stability and peace on the vast Eurasian space. In this connection I must express my gratitude to the leaders of Kazakhstan and Belarus.

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

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