Russia in the Council of Europe: A Difficult Relationship

This short introduction presents some background facts and policy dilemmas concerning the admission, membership, and expulsion of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe, with a special emphasis on the European Convention on Human Rights. It then introduces the six articles that compose this special issue of Russian Politics . Finally, it summarizes the process by which these articles came to be gathered together – a two-day workshop funded by PluriCourts and organized by Geir Flikke and Jeffrey Kahn.