This article analyses realist school in the Russian international relations scholarshipand discusses the debates among Russian realists. It focuses on the characteristics of the newly emerging world order and the development of an adequate strategy for Russia to pursue in its international behavior. The authors argue that over the 1990s, realism has made considerable intellectual progress and has gained the status of a leading intellectual movement in Russia. It assisted Russian intellectual and political community in defining the country’s interests and priorities in the emerging international relations, and it provided a necessary analysis of the world order’s structure and polarity.