A adesão da Rússia à Organização Mundial do Comércio sob a lógica das relações bilaterais russo-norte-americanas (1993-2008)

Abstract

The negotiations of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) took over eighteen years to be concluded. It was the longest accession process in the history of GATT/WTO. This thesis deals with the reasons for the long duration of the accession process and focuses on the timeframe 1993-2008, ranging from Russia’s formal request of accession until the end of the mandate of Vladimir Putin as the president of the country. This study argues that the reasons behind the long accession process lie in the Russian domestic politics as well as in Russian-American bilateral relations. Concerning Russian domestic politics, the long accession process was due to the stark division of interests in Russian society and the ensuing lack of consensus regarding the benefits of the accession to the WTO. In the international level, Russian-US relations were characterized by mutual distrust, since the US believed Russia was not a truly reliable partner, for having become increasingly authoritarian and not properly observing the rules of intellectual property rights and the rule of law. Russia, for its part, considered that the US did not treat it as a great power, nor wanted it as partner in the WTO. There was also a logic of competition, on the grounds that the US argued Russia still had revisionist politics, while Russia contended the US conducted a unilateralist and expansionist policy. Those troubling bilateral relations on the period reinforced a conservative faction in Russia, further aggravating the duration of the accession process.