Russia as a Recruited Development Donor

Russia is often included in discussions of emerging donors, but it is an anomalous case whose actual development policies and practices have received little substantive analysis. This article examines internal and external processes that have influenced Russia’s evolving approach to international development assistance in the past decade. I argue that Russia is less an emerging donor than a recruited one, targeted in a concerted effort of capacity-building and consulting by several global agencies. However, while this effort attempted to encompass ‘Russia’ as a unitary entity, it has had differential effects among the great variety of Russian actors from different government ministries who participated in the programmes. The article traces the recent historical development of Russia’s donorship in the context of these capacity-building programmes, focusing in particular on tensions between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the fitful attempts to create a dedicated Russian aid agency.