EJIL: The Podcast! Episode 42: Russia, Imperial Continuities and Histories of International Law

One function of the flip to historical past in worldwide regulation has been the adoption of ‘nationwide’ traditions (right here utilizing ‘nationwide’ very loosely) as a lens by means of which to discover a broader image. This give attention to nationwide traditions has converged with wealthy work styled as comparative worldwide regulation, exploring how worldwide regulation operates as a fragile widespread language at the same time as governments deploy its grammar and vocabulary in fairly alternative ways. On this episode we take up the query of whether or not there’s a distinctive Russian strategy to or use of worldwide regulation. This takes us to reflections on the terrain from which we choose this, significantly at present. What are the comparators and from which perspective are we taking a view? It additionally takes us to the stakes of pondering by way of these long-range continuities in nationwide authorized types within the first place. How does that form our perspective on the broader system and the way it would possibly develop in future? Megan Donaldson is joined by Lauri Mälksoo (College of Tartu), Erika de Moist (College of Graz) and the political scientist Gulnaz Sharafutdinova (Director of the Russia Institute, King’s Faculty London).

Scholarship mentioned within the episode consists of Lauri Mälksoo’s current guide, Russia, the Soviet Union, and Imperial Continuity in Worldwide Regulation (2025); and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova’s The Pink Mirror: Putin’s Management and Russia’s Insecure Identification (2020) and The Afterlife of the ‘Soviet Man’: Rethinking Homo Sovieticus (2023). Erika de Moist expands on themes in ‘Is the long run for collective safety regional? Assessing present challenges to regional and sub-regional safety frameworks in Africa’, forthcoming Japanese Yearbook of Worldwide Regulation (2026).