ABSTRACT
In studying Soviet or Russian foreign policy it is rarely asked, how should one evaluate rival theoretical perspectives, why should one theoretical approach be preferred to another. The starting point of this enquiry could be challenged by asking whether one should not start by collecting facts and data when undertaking research, and then create a theory to match these facts, rather than starting with fundamental theoretical considerations. A practical problem may give rise to a theoretical problem, and scientific development goes through a critical discussion of the existing theories to new problems. Moreover, as we will see, many approaches or theories within (post-)Sovietology or International Relations are implicitly or explicitly committed to a certain kind of philosophy of science, which make the comparison between them tricky, because of the lack of commonly shared standards. Nevertheless, one can summarise and advance a few philosophical premises for the rest of the study on the basis of the above discussion.
