Introduction

This chapter examines the foreign policies of Russia and other selected states of the former Soviet Union. Foreign policy is usually defined as the actions of a state toward the external environment and the conditions under which these actions are formulated. There is thus a clear linkage between the state's domestic situation, where policy is formulated, and its external environment, in which policy is implemented. According to K.J. Holsti, governments need to balance domestic institutional tensions with external demands and priorities or risk failure, which in such fragile countries could lead to political and socioeconomic collapse. The essence of a government's role in domestic politics is to provide order and protection for citizens. The chapter point outs the way the states of the former Soviet Union have behaved in the international environment. It argues that in the foreign policy arena, the conflict has produced two political factions: the Atlanticists and the Eurasianists.