Author: Boris Kheyfets, Russian Academy of Sciences

Russia’s bid to join the WTO was approved on 16 December at long last. This event marked the end of some of the longest negotiations in WTO history, with Russia making its initial decision to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — the precursor to the WTO — in 1993.

But despite the decision to join, domestic debate about the appropriateness of Russia’s membership continues unabated. Read more…