Using analytic autoethnography, this paper discusses the influences and outcomes that shaped a 30-month project between a Russian and an English university trying to develop a dual-award in educational leadership. It explores the drivers, benefits, hindrances and affordances of international collaboration, before critiquing the literature on contemporary Russian culture. It then maps how various factors including money, language, hospitality, trust, commitment and flexibility affected the project. It concludes that unequal partnerships can result in shared learning, but that programme validation is harder to achieve if either institution imposes unrealistic financial constraints, lacks flexibility, or fails to recruit a high-level champion. (Contains 1 figure.)