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Ira Shamugiya
CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY*
As the title implies, the article deals with the origins of the Russian public diplomacy. Much attention is drawn to the estimation of efficiency of basic structures and organizations that are responsible for the public diplomacy implementation. The forecast of the further development of this institution in Russia is given.
Key words: Russian public diplomacy, media, world public, country's image.
Public diplomacy is a relatively new term. It was first used in 1965 by Edmund Gullion, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, to label the process by which international actors seek to accomplish foreign policy goals by engaging with foreign publics [1]. Despite the fact that this approach in different forms has been used for several centuries, we can see a sharp increase in scientific and practical interest to the field of public diplomacy only since the end of the Cold War. Its popularity is due to several interrelated factors: globalization, the entry of new actors into the international arena and the development of information technologies. Actually, in an age when communication technologies are increasingly involved into the political discourse, the nature of diplomacy is certainly becoming more public. It means that the role of the society in the international affairs of the various states increases.
The issues of public diplomacy also emerge full blown in Russia. It is connected with stepping up of state's foreign policy in the early 21st century. The Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, approved in 2013, states that "an important element of the foreign policy activities of the Russian Federation is providing the broad world public with full and accurate information about its stand on major international issues, foreign policy initiatives and actions of the Russian Federation, its domestic social and economic development processes and plans, as well as on the achievements of Russian culture and science". Besides, it is noted that Russia will seek to ensure its objective perception in the world via its public diplomacy, widely using new information and communication technologies [2]. However, the Western media and vast majority of foreign publics are still highly unsympathetic toward our country.
* Research supervisor: I.I. Arsentyeva, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor of Department of International Relations and Russian Foreign Policy. Language instructor: E.N. Zakharova, Candidate of History, Associate Professor of Department of English Language for Humanities.
Therefore, the goal of this research is to analyze the origins and development of the Russian public diplomacy. In order to achieve this goal, the following objectives should be attained:
- to identify and describe the basic institutions and organizations that are responsible for the implementation of public diplomacy;
- to estimate the efficiency of the Russian public diplomacy as a tool for achieving foreign-policy objectives;
- to make a forecast of the further development of this institution in Russia.
In 2003, Russia's Presidential Executive Office commissioned a survey in which Americans were to name the top ten items they associated with Russia. The majority of the responses were communism, the KGB, snow, and mafia. Another poll conducted that year on the global awareness of Russian brands even more poignantly showed that Russia's image was in need of repair: the only "brands" foreigners could think of were Kalashnikov rifles and Molotov cocktails [3]. Then, Vladimir Putin stated at a plenary session of the Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent representatives meeting in 2004 that the perception of Russia in the world is often far from reality, and therefore "embassies and other overseas representative offices should take an active part in shaping an unbiased and commendable concept of Russia's domestic and foreign policy, its history, its culture, and current developments" [4]. This speech can be conventionally called a starting point for the development of public diplomacy in our country. Moreover, since then, in a drive to improve Russia's image, the Kremlin has invested millions of dollars into various public diplomacy initiatives.
Media support of domestic and foreign policy abroad is one of the main public diplomacy components that Russia tries to develop actively. In June 2005 news agency "RIA Novosti" launched the first Russian English-language news channel Russia Today which broadcasts Twenty-four Hours a Day, Seven Days a Week. It was intended to inform foreign audience about internal events and bring the Russian view on global news. The news channel rapidly broadened its broadcast and audience and very quickly grew in world popularity. Thus, Russia Today began to broadcast in Arabic in 2007 and in Spanish in 2014. Besides, RT has its own studios in Washington and London. In 2014, RT's five YouTube channels combined have hit the 2 billion views benchmark, strengthening the channel's role as the leading news provider on the popular video hosting service [5]. However, it is not the last achievement of Russia Today. In 2015, RT managed to beat all-time record - 3 billion views on YouTube. This fact puts the network solidly ahead of all its major competitors, garnering twice as many as CNN, three times more than Euronews, and nearly 10 times the number accumulated by the BBC [6]. These re-
sults confirm the success of the TV channel Russia Today, which can be called an effective tool of the Russian public diplomacy.
In 2006, our country set up another large-scale project in the media sphere in an effort to improve the foreign policy image of Russia abroad. "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" made a deal with some mainstream press, such as American "Washington Post", British "Daily Telegraph", French "Le Figaro", etc., to place in these newspapers supplements, named "Trendlines Russia". The aim of these supplements is to inform the foreign publics about positive changes in Russia - financial, sports, cultural and other achievements.
Without doubt, information support is one of the most important components of public diplomacy, but apart from it, there is a huge amount of other elements, for instance, the popularization of the language. So, Russkiy Mir Foundation became a Russian soft power initiative created by decree by Vladimir Putin in 2007, as a government-funded organization aimed at promoting the Russian language, and forming the Russian World as a global project. The Foundation creates numerous Russian language and literature centers in educational institutions of different countries, as well as actively works with compatriots abroad.
It should be said that Russian culture is very attractive to foreign publics, that is why particular attention of Russia's public diplomacy is given to the cultural exchanges and the promotion of Russian education abroad. Rossotrudnichestvo, the Federal Agency for CIS Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation, is responsible for these issues. This federal government agency is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was set up in 2008.
Rossotrudnichestvo, organizing exhibitions, conferences, cultural events, cross-years, makes our country attractive in cultural, educational and humanitarian sphere. However, unfortunately, this agency is not very effective in promotion of Russia as a political entity. It means that Russia has few opportunities to influence its foreign partners through their public opinion.
Recently, particular attention has been given to the interaction between the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of Russian NGOs. For this purpose, the Russia's Foreign Ministry set up the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund in 2010. Its goals include "support of public diplomacy, promotion of participation by Russia's NGOs in international cooperation, and active involvement of civil society institutions in foreign policy" [7]. The Gorchakov Fund provides support to various non-governmental organizations in implementing projects through grants awards. It could be said that this Fund is something like "a collector of ideas" which was established to target NGOs in the right direction. Moreover, the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund organizes events, conferences and public
lectures on foreign policy problems and involves foreign experts in the area of international relations. These actions are intended to support the Russian public diplomacy and improve the international image of Russia.
In addition to the Gorchakov Fund, a non-profit partnership, the Russian Council for International Affairs was created in 2010 by the order of Dmitry Medve-dev. Its goal is "to promote international research in Russia, to improve training for specialists in foreign policy and regional studies, and to organize interaction between Russian scientific organizations and foreign think tanks on matters in international relations" [8]. The Council is a non-governmental body, which members are the scientists, diplomats, politicians, public men, businesspeople, etc. So, it is a kind of connecting link between the state, expert community, business and civil society.
Despite the success of Russia in the sphere of information broadcasting, there is no significant progress in the field of public diplomacy as a whole. The Kremlin makes efforts to improve the country's image, increases the funding of the various bodies responsible for the public diplomacy, and creates new ones. However, Russia's policy of "soft power" poorly compares with the same policy of other developed countries. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the country's top leadership is directly responsible for the management of the Russian public diplomacy. As a result, there is no consistency in the activities carried out by different agencies, organizations and foundations. This requires a special state agency that would coordinate public diplomacy of state structures, the activities of nongovernmental organizations and the business community. Unfortunately, there is no such a body in Russia, as well as there is no legal document, the public diplomacy concept, which could define the main subjects, determine their activity area and the principles of interaction.
Based on the study, it may be concluded that our country has still much to do to create a credible reputation. Primarily, Russia needs to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy of public diplomacy to ensure its national interests and strong position in the international arena, because nowadays any action of the state will not succeed without public support inside the country and abroad.
Bibliography
1. What is Public Diplomacy? // The Edward R. Murrow Center of Public Diplomacy. The Fletcher School. Tufts University. - URL: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/murrow/diplomacy
2. Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (approved by President of the Russian Federation on 12 February 2013) // Ministry of Foreign
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Affairs of the Russian Federation Official Site. - 18.02.2013. - URL: http://archive.mid.ru//brp_4.nsf/0/76389FEC168189ED44257B2E0039B16D
3. Evans J. Spinning Russia // Foreign Policy. - 01.12.2005. - URL: http://foreignpolicy.com/2005/12/01/spinning-russia/
4. Speech at a Plenary Session of the Russian Federation Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives Meeting // President of Russia Website. -12.07.2004. - URL: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/22545
5. It's official: RT is most watched news network on YouTube with over 2bn views // RT. - 16.12.2014. - URL: https://www.rt.com/news/214723-rt-two-billion-youtube/
6. RT on YouTube reaches 3 billion views, record among TV networks // RT. - 02.12.2015. - URL: https://www.rt.com/about-us/press-releases/rt-youtube-3-billion/
7. Dmitry Medvedev signed an order to create the Gorchakov Fund to Support Public Diplomacy // President of Russia Website. - 04.02.2010. - URL: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/6780
8. Dmitry Medvedev signed an order to create a non-profit partnership, the Russian Council for International Affairs // President of Russia Website. -04.02.2010. - URL: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/6779
Briefly about the author
Shamugiya Ira Shalerievna - student of Institute of History and International Relations, Saratov State University. E-mail: [email protected]
