ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book chronicles the development of Russian-Chinese relations from the establishment of the Russian Federation in January 1992 through mid-2003, or in shorthand form, approximately its first decade. It presents a case study to examine the basic issues and events that shaped Russia's behavior with China. This study seeks to analyze the extent to which Russia's interactions with China conformed to or deviated from other documented patterns of Russian foreign policy behavior, an endeavor that also mandates an identification of forces impelling the Russian-Chinese relationship. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs clearly played a central role in the orchestration of Russian foreign policy toward China. During the first decade of the Russian Federation, the First Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry was also headed by career diplomats with extensive experience in Asia dating back to the Soviet era.
