CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS AND THE STRATEGIES OF DEPROBLIMATIZATION IN THE DEBATE ON RUSSIA'S ACCESSION TO THE WTO

Russia's accession to the WTO remained one of the most talked economic events for a long time. Representatives of various interest groups (both supporters and opponents of joining the organization) attended in the public debate on this issue. The paper presents the results of the analysis of publications in the print media on Russia's accession to the WTO over a period from December 2010 to December 2013. The focuses of our attention are two time slots: one and a half years prior to the entry and one and a half years after. The total number of analyzed articles is 397. As a result of the research we made some conclusions about the features of the construction of the WTO's media image. The paper presents an analysis of the positions of representatives of different groups and an evaluation of their involvement in the discussion. In addition, we provide illustrations of basic strategies used for deproblematization of the Russia's accession to the WTO, as well as to make assumptions about the reasons for which such actions became necessary.