ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the comparative politics and international relations literatures to examine the sources of Russian conduct in the post-Soviet era. The nature of Soviet political institutions was such that decision-making elites were insulated and access to the process was highly restricted. The chapter establishes a baseline for measuring the recent changes and argues on institutional grounds that Western expectations for a continuing liberal foreign policy in post-Soviet Russia were unrealistic. It discusses the new international structures within which Russia finds itself. The chapter considers their likely influence on any state in Russia's position and to explore the constraints, incentives, and opportunities this setting creates for domestic political actors engaged in Russian foreign policy. It provides the changing institutional context, argues that decentralization, along with the inability of the Yeltsin government to exercise leadership and build state capacity, has contributed to the politicizing of foreign policy decision making.
