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The Means and Ends of Russian Influence Abroad
This project examines the mechanisms that Russia has devised to influence and attract countries in the 'near-abroad', Western Europe and the US.
A central consideration of the project is the notion of Russia's soft power. The conventional wisdom is that Russia has no soft power. This perception hinders our understanding of a number of important issues. The project is mindful of, but not bound by, established Western definitions of the concept. Instead, it inquires into the mechanisms of influence and attraction that Russia has devised to develop informal networks, business links, state-corporate relations, civilisational affinities and linguistic ties.
A major workshop on Russian influence and soft power with experts from the former Soviet Union, Europe and the US, was held in March 2011. View Summary
A series of briefing papers will examine various aspects of Russia's influence and soft power.
- Russia's Energy Diplomacy, by John Lough
- Russia's Business Diplomacy, by Andrew Wood
- A Ghost in the Mirror: Russian Soft Power in Ukraine, by Alexander Bogomolov and Oleksandr Lytvynenko
- Russian Influence in the Baltic States: Legacies, Coercion and Soft Power, by Agnia Baranauskaite Grigas
- Russia's Responses to NATO and European Union Enlargement and Integration, by James Greene
- The Long Goodbye: Waning Russian Influence in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, by James Nixey
The project will conclude with a major publication by James Sherr, Soft Power? The Means and Ends of Russian Influence Abroad, drawing together the findings of the investigation and concluding with recommendations for policy-makers in the United States, EU and Russia's neighbourhood.
Resources
Russia's Business Diplomacy
Briefing Paper
Andrew Wood, May 2011
Russia's Energy Diplomacy
Briefing Paper
John Lough, May 2011
A Ghost in the Mirror: Russian Soft Power in Ukraine
Briefing Paper
Alexander Bogomolov and Oleksandr Lytvynenko, January 2012
Soft Power? The Means and Ends of Russian Influence Abroad
Seminar Summary, March 2011
Contact
For more information on the project, please contact James Nixey