Really!
Barbs are (don't hold me to this, who knows what the game might do) usually dumb. A lot of the time they won't even approach the city!!!
I hope that I am not overstepping my bounds as a new voice, but I did not see anything on the first page requiring an official sign-up before posting here. If I simply missed that, feel free to disregard me (or smack me around a bit).
In any case, I have read up on the last fifteen or so pages (and the odd page here or there) and this seems interesting. More to the point, MathNerd, I do not believe that you are adequately familiar with Barbarians and military matters. (By the way, what difficulty level is this game on?)
Barbarians will not enter cultural borders until there is an average of two cities per civilization on the map. Although it seems like no one has posted game screen shots (makes it harder to give good advice), it sounds like that point has already been reached. Granted, Barbarians do not attack in an organized way, and on lower difficulty levels they are a nuisance at worst (well, assuming you actually build military units), but they
will attack your undefended/poorly defended cities, they
will pillage your resources, slowing growth and development, and they
will make your life miserable if you are unprepared.
Again, without seeing any screen shots or power graphs, it's hard to say what the Russians will do in the event of war, but assuming that they will
not attack is a good way to get a one-way ticket to oblivion. And since it sounds like the Russians have potential military allies, relying on token defense is doubly unwise.
Just my thoughts. I like to think that I have a good bit of Civ military experience.
Edit: Incidentally, if I can join this (though my participation will be somewhat sporadic since I do not have unlimited free time), the Imperial Party looks to be in my area of interest.