Russia's Position in the International System in 21st Century: Prospective Scenarios

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, though the power and position of the Russian Federation in the international system has diminished, all international observers have been waiting since the birth of this new actor to find out how the main heir to the great superpower of the Orient would regulate its macro orientations and strategies in international relations arena. The importance of the point revealed when the UN Security Council’s permanent membership and the Soviet Union nuclear and space capabilities were given to the Russian Federation and these are still maintaining a determining stance in the world strategic equations. Hence, the know-how of Russia’s regulating international relations strategy is of remarkable importance for its great powers’ neighbors. Reviewing various approaches of Euratlantic, Eurasia and Centralism in Russian foreign policy, the paper is to analyze the macro indicators and the main criteria for each approach and its influence on other actors in the international system and will finally explain the most likely approach to map the stance of the Russian Federation in the international system in the 21st century.