ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the theoretical implications of Russia's decision to balance or bandwagon. The neo-Slavophiles, by contrast, sought to define Russia as a unique civilization diametrically opposed to what they saw as the Western values of materialism and license. Russia's quest for multipolarity was aimed at creating conditions in which Russia could effectively resist American military, geopolitical, and economic encroachment, as well as secure its status as a great power which 'mattered' internationally. The policies undertaken in order to further multipolarity were a result of the desire by Kremlin leaders to avoid the negative consequences of American-dominated unipolarity. Under a system of multipolarity, American power would be checked by an institutional and systemic framework of great powers, each committed to resisting the hegemony of any one state and to operating by consensus. Russian foreign policy can be consistently explained in terms of the costs of bandwagoning.
