ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Kremlin's selective promotion of international organizations as a way to check American unilateralism and enhances its ability to secure Russian interests. Five international organizations have been particularly important for Russia's promotion of multipolarity: the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a proposed Slavic union with Belarus, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the United Nations (UN). Moscow's initial policy toward the CIS was in line with the priorities of the Yeltsin-Kozyrev foreign policy concept: the CIS was seen largely as a mechanism for dividing the legacy of the Soviet Union, since Russia's relationship with the West was its primary foreign policy focus. The CIS was one such organization: by establishing some level of control over the former Soviet Union, Russia could compensate for its loss of empire and help to restore its great power status.
