Russia’s Public Diplomacy: From Soft Power to Strategic Communication

Abstract

Russian public diplomacy has recently minimized its traditional approach of soft power and cultural diplomacy in favor of strategic communication involving political marketing and sharp power. This article discusses the theoretical implications of soft power, political marketing, and strategic communication for public diplomacy and reviews Russia’s conspicuous projects of public diplomacy in the domains of traditional and digital communication. It shows that Russia’s public diplomacy has recently exploited strategic communication and political marketing more often than soft power, dialogue, and engagement. As a consequence, despite new reforms and financial support from the government, Russia’s public diplomacy can neither win over target audiences nor improve its brand via foreign aid.