1. Russia and the Changing International System: An Introduction

This introductory chapter argues that Russia’s role in the changing international system as well as its main motives and instruments in its regional and global engagements should be evaluated in accordance with its multiple actorness in the international system, its distinct interpretation of the international order and its mixed approach to multilateralism. Russia’s reading of the present world order differs significantly from the interpretation of its Western counterparts. In fact, the Russian vision of world politics is far from being “Western” at the normative level, since it does not act as a “norm taker” in the current international structure and rather tends to impose its own norms by challenging the norm diffusion strategies initiated by the Western powers. Against this background, it is important to grasp how Russia’s “illiberal” approach to the international order shapes its foreign policy outcomes as well as its problematic relations with the West.