Publication

This article analyzes the relationship between the results and the intensity of human rights cooperation between Russia and European intergovernmental organizations. After revisiting the basic assumptions of international cooperation theory, the author formulates a hypothesis about the nature of cooperation and tests it on an empirical case regarding the abolition of the death penalty. The author concludes that while Russia remains far from meeting European human rights standards, European organizations have become increasingly reluctant to criticize and pressure Russia to live up to the standards.