Russia and the WTO

It is hard to believe that Russia is still not part of the World Trade Organization, but Bush and Putin have reached an agreement on Russia's entry. I think it says something about the enormous influence that the U.S. has over the WTO that the New York Times considered an agreement with the U.S. the "final big hurdle" for Russia despite objections by other member states. This is a great example of a country negotiating the terms on which it will engage the WTO and choosing to bind itsself to a set of rules that are determined by the organization.
I also thought it was interesting that the article said the WTO "sets the ground rules for globalization. " While the statement is not necessarily false, it implies a much narrower definition of globalization than I have been used to in our class. I think of globalization as something that existed long before the WTO and I am sure that Russia has been participating in globalization without membership in the WTO.