ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of a key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the relationship between the formulation and execution of Russian foreign policy in relation to its status and position within the international system. Moreover, it will cover a wide range of issues over a decade of foreign policy development. The book analyzes the causes of the vacillations in Russia's post-Soviet foreign policy and tests the theoretical concepts. It examines Russian foreign policy in the context of its position within the post-Cold War international system. The book seeks to explain the following fundamental dilemma: what factor(s) can explain the vacillations in Russian foreign policy evidenced since the collapse of the Soviet Union? In order to answer this question, several additional questions must be raised, each of which deals with how Russian policymakers have defined their country's foreign policy.
