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Russia’s Public Diplomacy

Part of the book series: Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations ((SID))

Abstract

Russian public diplomacy attracts growing attention in the current global climate of tension and competition. The chapter starts with the motivation and the idea behind this book. Afterwards, it reflects the current state of international relations and external perceptions of Russian public diplomacy. This chapter also gives an insight into the complex state of international relations from the perspective of the workings of Russian foreign policy through its public diplomacy. It reveals the correlation between public diplomacy and country’s visibility and reputation in international community. It concludes with the brief chapter descriptions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Westad, O. A., The Cold War and America’s Delusion of Victory, Opinion, The New York Times, 28 August 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/opinion/cold-war-american-soviet-victory.html?ref=opinion&_r=0 (accessed 29 August 2017).

  2. 2.

    Director Pompeo Delivers Remarks at INSA, News & Information, Central Intelligence Agency, 11 July 2017, https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2017-speeches-testimony/director-pompeo-delivers-remarks-at-insa.html (accessed 12 July 2017).

  3. 3.

    Globally, People Point to ISIS and Climate Change as Leading Security Threats, Pew Research Centre, 1 August 2017, http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/08/01/globally-people-point-to-isis-and-climate-change-as-leading-security-threats/ (accessed 8 August 2017).

  4. 4.

    Bagchi, I., Russia Pollster Finds India among Top Friends but Perception About China Better, The Economic Times, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/russia-pollster-finds-india-among-top-friends-but-perception-about-china-better/articleshow/64774385.cms, 28 June 2018 (accessed 7 November 2018).

  5. 5.

    For example, see the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Website on the Topic of Fake News—http://www.mid.ru/en/nedostovernie-publikacii.

  6. 6.

    Harrison, A., Can You Trust the Mainstream Media?, The Guardian, 6 August 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/06/can-you-trust-mainstream-media (accessed 8 August 2017).

  7. 7.

    Suchkov, M. A., What the Sanctions Really Mean for Russia, National Interest, 6 August 2017, http://nationalinterest.org/feature/what-the-sanctions-really-mean-russia-21804 (accessed 8 August 2017).

  8. 8.

    Schmitt, E., US Troops Train in Eastern Europe to Echoes of the Cold War, The New York Times, 6 August 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/world/europe/russia-america-military-exercise-trump-putin.html?mcubz=1 (accessed 8 August 2017).

  9. 9.

    Vasiljevic, S., Russia: Pence Balkans Comments Expose Washington’s Cold War Ideology, Reuters, 3 August 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-pence-idUSKBN1AJ2L1 (accessed 8 August 2017).

  10. 10.

    Editorial Board, We’re on the Road to a New Cold War, The Washington Post, 31 July 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/were-on-the-road-to-a-new-cold-war/2017/07/31/213af6be-7617-11e7-8839-ec48ec4cae25_story.html?utm_term=.8574e2962235 (accessed 8 August 2017).

  11. 11.

    von Mittelstaedt, J., and Follath, E., Do We Achieve World Order Through Chaos or Insight?, Spiegel Online, 13 November 2014, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-henry-kissinger-on-state-of-global-politics-a-1002073.html (accessed 30 August 2017).

  12. 12.

    Fischer, S., and Stark, H., We are Already in a Cold War, Spiegel Online, 2 July 2015, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-zbigniew-brzezinski-on-russia-and-ukraine-a-1041795.html (accessed 30 August 2017).

  13. 13.

    Gerasimov, V., Ценность науки в предвидении: Новые вызовы требуют переосмыслить формы и способы ведения боевых действий (The Value of Science in Anticipation: New Challenges Need to Rethink the Forms and Methods of Warfare), Военно-промышленный курьер (Military-Industrial Courier), 27 February 2013, http://www.vpk-news.ru/articles/14632 (accessed 19 October 2015).

  14. 14.

    For their website, see http://www.propornot.com/p/home.html, for critique, see https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/28/unpacking-the-shadowy-outfit-behind-2017s-biggest-fake-news-story/.

  15. 15.

    For their website, see https://www.integrityinitiative.net/about, for critique, see https://grayzoneproject.com/2018/12/17/inside-the-temple-of-covert-propaganda-the-integrity-initiative-and-the-uks-scandalous-information-war/. For an example of their information activities approach, see https://undercoverinfo.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/fco-application-form-2018-v21.pdf.

  16. 16.

    Maté, A., New Studies Show Pundits Are Wrong About Russian Social-Media Involvement in US Politics, The Nation, 28 December 2018, https://www.thenation.com/article/russiagate-elections-interference/?fbclid=IwAR0_YEkSC-k0bMpVqxxo6%2D%2DkBoa5QBezqd21uuKWnw-YvXW5mWhZljhILzc (accessed 5 January 2019).

  17. 17.

    Rogers, E., The Media Is Ignoring Ties Between the Clinton Campaign and Russians, Opinion, The Washington Post, 13 February 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/02/13/the-media-is-ignoring-ties-between-the-clinton-campaign-and-russians/?utm_term=.d7eea0d7d0b6 (accessed 6 January 2019).

  18. 18.

    Kinzer, S., Russia is Not the Enemy, Boston Globe, 20 September 2015, http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/09/19/russia-not-enemy/O0nCDUXrXAYLliutmqUtlN/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed (accessed 22 September 2015).

  19. 19.

    A narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events, whether this is true or false is immaterial. Whether it is believed or not is of importance. If accepted a narrative, in addition to helping to explain events, also has the effect of restricting how those events can be described (narrowing the ability to credibly provide alternative accounts).

  20. 20.

    Panichi, J., EU Splits in Russian Media War, Politico, 17 September 2015, http://www.politico.eu/article/eu-russia-propaganda-kremlin-media/ (accessed 18 September 2015); Ennis, S., Russia in ‘Information War’ With the West to Win Hearts and Minds, BBC News, 16 September 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34248178 (accessed 16 September 2015).

  21. 21.

    Williams, Carol J., Sweden Rethinking Neutrality Amid Fear of Russian Aggression, LA Times, 2 September 2015, http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-sweden-russia-nato-neutrality-20150902-story.html (accessed 4 September 2015).

  22. 22.

    Escobar, P., The Myth of a Russian ‘Threat’, Sputnik, 25 August 2015, http://sputniknews.com/columnists/20150825/1026161727/myth-of-russian-threat.html (accessed 28 August 2015).

  23. 23.

    Kinzer, S., Russia is Not the Enemy, Boston Globe, 20 September 2015, http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/09/19/russia-not-enemy/O0nCDUXrXAYLliutmqUtlN/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed (accessed 22 September 2015).

  24. 24.

    Adam Johnson, US Leads World in Credulous Reports of ‘Lagging Behind’ Russia, FAIR, 1 September 2015, http://fair.org/home/us-leads-world-in-credulous-reports-of-lagging-behind-russia/ (accessed 4 September 2015); Hahn, G. M., Putin is Crazy and Sick: The Lows of American Rusology, Russian and Eurasian Politics, Islamism, Jihadism, 19 September 2015, http://gordonhahn.com/2015/09/19/putin-is-crazy-and-sick-the-lows-of-american-rusology/ (accessed 22 September 2015); O’Phobe R., A Media Primer on the Art of Writing Russian Scare Stories, The Blogmire, http://www.theblogmire.com/a-media-primer-on-the-art-of-writing-russian-scare-stories/ (accessed 16 September 2015).

  25. 25.

    When Russia Plays by the West’s Rules, It Loses, Sputnik, http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20150827/1026262657/russia-europe-us-geopolitics-imperialism.html, 27 August 2015 (accessed 31 August 2015); Gerasimov, V., Ценность науки в предвидении: Новые вызовы требуют переосмыслить формы и способы ведения боевых действий (The Value of Science in Anticipation: New Challenges Need to Rethink the Forms and Methods of Warfare), Военно-промышленный курьер (Military-Industrial Courier), http://www.vpk-news.ru/articles/14632, 27 February 2013 (accessed 19 October 2015).

  26. 26.

    Taylor, G., Lithuanian Foreign Minister Says Russian Propaganda Fills Void from West, Washington Times, 8 December 2015, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/dec/8/linas-linkevicius-lithuanian-foreign-minister-says/ (accessed 10 December 2015).

  27. 27.

    Osipova, E., Russia’s Public Diplomacy: In Search of Recognition (Part One), USC Centre on Public Diplomacy, 3 November 2014, https://www.uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/russia%E2%80%99s-public-diplomacy-search-recognition-part-1 (accessed 7 November 2018).

  28. 28.

    Public Diplomacy: Russia, no date given, http://publicdiplomacy.wikia.com/wiki/Russia (accessed 7 November 2018).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Foundation, Moscow, Russia

    Anna A. Velikaya

  2. Scientific Council of Rossotrudnichestvo Federal Agency, Moscow, Russia

    Anna A. Velikaya

  3. Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Greg Simons

  4. Department of Communication Sciences, Turiba University, Riga, Latvia

    Greg Simons

Authors
  1. Anna A. Velikaya
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  2. Greg Simons
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Foundation, Moscow, Russia

    Anna A. Velikaya

  2. Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Greg Simons

  3. Department of Communication Sciences, Turiba University, Riga, Latvia

    Greg Simons

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Velikaya, A.A., Simons, G. (2020). Introduction. In: Velikaya, A.A., Simons, G. (eds) Russia’s Public Diplomacy. Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12874-6_1

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