East of West and West of East - The struggle for Russia's foreign policy concept

Few questions have been more controversial in Russian politics than the iss ue of Russia's foreign policy orientation and the concepts which determine its foreign policies. Basically, concepts of national identity and foreign policies are considered to be important policy factors in states which are moving from one political system to another. Russia is no exception from th is rule. Institutional weakness and political unpredictability have made id eas and elite constellations crucial factors in the internal struggle for a Russian foreign policy concept. However, constellations are never permanen t, and the same goes for the concepts. This article attempts to give an ove rview of the internal struggle for a foreign policy concept in Russia from 1992 and onwards. It argues that although Russia claims to have reached con sensus around some realist principles in foreign policies based on a broad elite agreement, uncertainty persists. Moreover, realist principles in fore ign policies seem to involve an acceptance that democracy in Russia is no p recondition for a role for Russia in world affairs. This has critical conse quences for the understanding of Russia as a foreign policy actor.