Human rights cooperation between Russia and European intergovernmental organisations A one-way transference of norms or a mutual process of adaptation?

Abstract:

The European intergovernmental organisations such as the Council of Europe, OSCE and the EU have taken up the task to promote actively human rights in Russia. The organisations differ in methods, instruments and over-all strategies but the goal of socialising Russia to common European human rights norms is the same for all these
organisations. Socialisation means a process through which norms are transmitted from one party to another and they become firmly established domestic practices.

This article aims to explain the mismatch between the results and the intensity of human rights cooperation between Russia and European intergovernmental organisations. This is done by revisiting the basic assumptions of international cooperation theory, formulating a hypothesis about the nature of cooperation, and finally testing the hypothesis on an empirical case regarding the abolition of death penalty. This article is a small contribution to the broader discussion on the nature of the relationship between the actors.