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Evgeny Pashentsev
The Strategic Communication of Russia in Latin America and its interpretation
in the USA
Strategic communication in the system of public administration and foreign policy
Most generally, strategic communication is the state's projecting of certain strategic values, interests and goals into the conscience of domestic and foreign audiences. It is effectuated by means of adequate synchronization of multifaceted activities in all the domains of social life with professional communication support. It is clear that such synchronization takes place in Russia today; reflecting the dynamics of the unique national symbiosis of the old and the new, of the local and the adopted aspects of administration forms and methods of influencing public consciousness.
In Russia, the term "strategic communication" is not used in official documents, unlike the USA. The latter have elevated the concept of strategic communication to a state policy at the highest level1. Though, in spite of abundance of state institutions2, documents3 and scientific research4, it is still in its nascent stages of development there.
1 National Framework for Strategic Communication. White House Strategic Communications report to Congress, dated March, 16th, 2010, released March 17th, 2010. Government Information Earl Gregg Swem Library.
2 The Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications (DNSA/SC), The Center for U.S. Global Engagement, The Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (R/PPR) and bureaus of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Public Affairs, and International Information Programs which are overseen by Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration/Chief Information Officer, Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and other ones in this or that way dealing with strategic communication. The structures are in constant change and development.
3Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, September 2004; Memorandum for Secretaries of the Military Departments. Subject: 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Strategic Communication (SC). Execution Roadmap. Deputy Secretary of Defense, 1010 Defense Pentagon. Washington, DC 20301-1010, September 25, 2006; U. S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication. Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC). Released June 2007; U. S. Senate. Strategic Communication Act of 2008. A Bill to Establish the National Center for Strategic Communication to Advise the President Regarding Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting to Promote Democracy and Human Rights, and for Other Purpose. S.3546, 110 Congress, 2nd session, September 17, 2008; Department of Defense. Report on Strategic Communication. December 2009. The Secretary of Defense. Washington, DC, 20301-1000. Feb. 11, 2010; Public Diplomacy: Strengthening U. S. Engagement with the World. A strategic approach for the 21st century. Office of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. 2.26.2010; Handbook for Strategic Communication and Communication Strategy. Suffolk, VA: Unites States Joint Forces Command, Warfighting Center, Version 3.0, June 24, 2010 etc.
4 Paul Ch. Strategic Communication: Origins, Concepts, and Current Debates. Santa Barbara, 2011; Weapons of Mass Persuasion: Strategic Communication to Combat Violent Extremism (Frontiers in Political Communication) /ed. S. R. Corman, A. Trethewey, H. L. Goodall. Bern, 2008; Trials of Engagement - The Future of US Public Diplomacy. / ed. A. Fisher, S. Lucas, G. James. Boston, 2011; Murphy MD. The Trouble With Strategic Comunication(s) // IO Sphere. Winter 2008; Stovichek B. E. Strategic Communication. A Department of Defense Approach, USAWC Strategy Research Project. Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, 2007; Patterson S. J., Radtke J. M. Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organization: Seven Steps to Creating a Successful Plan. Hoboken, 2009; O'Hair D., Friedrich G. W., Dixon L. D. Strategic Communication in Business and the Professions.7thEdition. MyCommunicationKitSeries. Boston, 2010 etc.
Russia tends to use the term "state informational policy", which does not exclude, however, the need for strategic communication, as it is implicit in the term. At the same time, it is important to avoid abandoning strategic communication in the current state informational policy; relating the tactical unity of acts, words and images to the strategy of development of Russia.
The three main aspects of strategic communication (public affairs, public diplomacy and information security systems) are interrelated, though each of them has its own peculiarities. Public diplomacy enriches diplomacy; the latter marked by dominance of official interaction of professional diplomats. For the most part, public affairs is geared towards informing and influencing the populace and mass media of Russia, though there are different ways of defining the various processes. Сonversely, public diplomacy includes activities for direct contact with citizens, the public, journalists and other opinion-shapers outside of the country. Public diplomacy is utilized to affect the attitudes towards Russian foreign policy and national interests - ideally to elicit broad support.
In the Doctrine of Informational Security of the Russian Federation, approved by Russian President Putin, on September 9, 2000, one can find the Russian Federation’s definition of information security:
Information security of the Russian Federation implies the condition of its national interests being protected in the domain of information, defined according to the totality of balanced interests of the personality, the society and the state 5.
The doctrine defines the main internal and external threats to information security and lists immediate measures meant to reinforce it. The Doctrine notes that “the source of external threats to the information security of the Russian Federation is a number of states developing information war concepts that foresee the creation of means of hazardous exposure to the informational domains of other countries of the world 6..."
In the social and political respect, an information war is nothing else that obvious and latent purposeful information-psychological influences of systems (states, parties, commercial and noncommercial structures) against each other. It has the goal of damaging, destructing or acquisition of non-material assets of the other party and gaining certain material benefits.
The means of conducting such a war at first sight are such obvious and well known:
5Доктрина информационной безопасности Российской Федерации. Утверждена Президентом Российской Федерации В. В. Путиным 9 сентября 2000 г. № Пр-1895.
6Там же.
rumors, word of mouth, slander etc. However, the systemic and multifaceted development of single operations, interrelated as socially latent campaigns make the information war quite efficient as a means of target audience management.
Strategic communication in the realm of foreign policy combines synchronization of affecting allied state, and non-state, actors through friendly “deeds, words and images” and through a wide range of communications within the framework of information warfare addressing foes and enemies. However, separating one from another is extremely difficult for the following reasons:
- It is not easy to forge alliances in the contemporary international field, due to the
conflicting interests of governing elites, who are often quite controversial,. Such a
phenomenon was evidence when the U.S. launched a large scale media campaign against allied France due to its outspoken disapproval at the UN in 2003 with America’s decision to invade Iraq7.
- The modern realities and interpretations of conflict deliberately blur boundaries between
war and peace, between military and civilian systems, and spaces and between information and influence or manipulation.8 The extension of warfare into public consciousness has taken place before. However, today we can witness the evidence of professional warfare in public consciousness using complex methods of
communicational influence on a global level - pulling more people into the virtual world of the internet and social networking. Accordingly, it provides for the
development and application of new kinds of informational impact and information weapons.
In order to usher in a qualitatively new level of development, it is vital for Russia to raise the efficiency of management systems in all the domains of society. The increase Russia’s capacity for utilizing strategic communication might become one of the most efficient tools for developing new systems of this sort. It will decrease the burden on administrative and financial administration organs, have a real impact in the speed of economic growth, and reinforce Russia's international position as well as state security. It is
7Some American restaurants rewrote their menus to offer “freedom fries” instead of French fries, and national TV networks aired scenes of angry Americans dumping bottles of French wine to protest France’s resistance to U.S. talk of an invasion of Iraq. Then-president Jacques Chirac of France couldn’t get a break on U.S. or British media. See: Muhammad U. France 24. The world through French eyes // Global Media Wars URL:globalmediawars.com/?page_id=73. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
8 Brunner E. M., Cavelty M. D. The formation of in-formation by the US military: articulation and enactment of information threat imaginaries on the immaterial battlefield of perception // Cambridge Review of International Affairs. P. 641-642. See more: Information Operations: The Hard Reality of Soft Power / ed. E. Armistead. Washington, 2004; Arpagian N. Internet et les resseaux sociaux: outils de contestations et vecteur d’influence // La Revue Internationale et strategique. 2010. №78.
worth noting that we are not talking about replacing physical action with communication manipulation mechanisms - Russia needs real progress, not its propagandistic imitation.
Next we try to show in what way being synchronized deeds, words and images in current politics of Russia. And we shall do it on an example of Latin America where Russia since a beginning of a new century made a significant breakthrough.
Strategic communication of Russia in Latin America is on the rise
Within the vast array of factors that could lead to increasing Russia’s presence in Latin America, primary attention is rightfully paid to the political, economic and military factors. However, the growing and dynamically developing system of information and communication support of Russian foreign policy deserves no less attention. It is especially important to highlight the recent progress of Russia's strategic communication in the region.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union the system of foreign policy propaganda shifted to poorly coordinated, controversial, low-powered, inefficient, and otherwise far from the needs of suiting Russia’s long-term interests; at the time foreign policy communications rested with separate bodies, without any strategic context. Western-backed new elite, deep in corruption, tried to hold power in the country as the economy declined, the population sliding into poverty, intensifying property stratification, science and education degradation, however natural resources and substantial nuclear potential remained key assets.
It is widely known that the bulk of negative information about Russia state of affairs covered Latin America in the early 1990s through the Western mass media. It created stable negative stereotypes of perception of Russia in the region. Russian Federation embassies couldn’t counteract due to “information hunger”. That said, anti-social domestic policy and incomprehensible international actions, especially in Latin America, were the dominant factors contributing to this negative image.
Avalanching reduction in the relations between Russia and Cuba (the volume of trade between the two countries reduced at 30 times in 1990 - 1993) and some other unfriendly acts against its the Soviet time strategic ally in the region transmitted extreme disappointment about new Russia into the minds of the most Latin Americans.
In 1990 some officials made an infamous visit to Chile in order to exchange their mutual experiences in “transitional periods” with Augusto Pinochet and his companions. In the late 1990s the most important economic partners of Russia in the region were the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands as the safest off-shoring for those ones who got easy money during privatization of state properties under Boris Yeltsin regime. The blast of the Supreme Soviet in October 1993, the failed start of the war in Chechnya, mainly predetermined by the
character of the reforms in the country, multiplied the negative effect of Russia in the world. Taking into the account the mentality of Latin Americans, it revealed an unconcealed weakness.
The situation has started to improve with the presidency of Vladimir V. Putin, followed by Dmitry A. Medvedev, and continued once again by Vladimir V. Putin in 2012. There is a twist to more independent international course, although many strategic solutions of national development are delayed and the citizens’ well-being is connected to oil prices and other resources, which can’t but transmit negative images of Russia to Latin America. But as changes occur, they show the rise of Russia’s presence in the region. The ideological component does not matter here - Moscow is ready to cooperate with the countries which have left-socialistic and right conservative governments. This approach gives good results. In 2005-2009 Russia’s trade turnover with Latin American countries increased to $18 billion from about $6 billion in the years prior. Some experts have cited the achievements of Russian foreign policy in Latin America as “the most efficient outcome of Moscow’s international activities in recent years”, “momentous”, and in many ways contributing to “the modernization of the regional relations”9.
Brazil is Russia’s biggest trade partner in Latin America. Trade between Russia and Brazil grew by 28 percent in 2010. According to the head of government Prime Minister Putin, Brazil is among the strategic partners not only in Latin America but also in the world. "I am referring to cooperation in such organizations as the UN and BRICS," Putin said. "We have a lot of interesting projects and ideas and very good prospects." Russia's foreign trade with Brazil in 2010 totaled 5.9 billion dollars. Russian exports increased by 65.6 percent to 1.8 billion dollars, and imports, by 17.3 percent to 4.1 billion dollars10.
New foreign policy course needed new and more strategically expansive communicational support. The Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, approved by President Dmitry Medvedev, on 12 July 2008, has a particular provision on their information support for foreign policy activities. It points out that an important part of the foreign policy activities of the Russian Federation is communicating, to the broad world public, full and accurate information about its stance on chief international problems, foreign policy initiatives and actions by the Russian Federation, its domestic social and economic
9 Russia - Latin America: the union of solidarity and pragmatism // Strategic Culture Foundation. URL: http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2010/06/21/6543.html. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
10 Brazilian Vice President - Relations Are Not Just about Import and Exporting, but Also about Cultural
Interaction // Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service. URL:
http://www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/en/news/common/news3267.html. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
development processes and plans, as well as on the accomplishments of Russian culture and science. In public diplomacy, Russia will seek its objective perception in the world, develop its own effective means of information influence on public opinion abroad, strengthen the role of the Russian mass media in the international information environment providing them with essential state support, as well as actively participate in international information cooperation, and take necessary measures to repel information threats to its sovereignty and security11.
A very important role for the development of Russia’s strategic communication in Latin America involves numerous summit meetings. Only during 2010 official visits of D. Medvedev to Argentina and Brazil contributed to the consolidation of collaboration. The presidents of Guatemala (A. Colom), Brazil (I. Lula), Venezuela (H. Chaves), Gayana (B. Jagdeo) also visited Russia in their turn. In Yokohama Russian president met the presidents of Mexico (F. Calderon) and Chile (S. Pinera) and signed the Treaty of Partnership. In April the chairman of the Russian Government Vladimir Putin officially visited Venezuela and met with H. Chaves and E. Morales.
During his visit to Argentina Mr. Medvedev stressed the following:
Russia has returned to South America...We see these countries as being home to our friends, home to people close to us, and we want to develop close cooperation with them. Today’s situation makes this possible. The world has become global and no one has a monopoly on the truth. I hope therefore that what we are doing is not bothering anyone, and if someone does happen to be bothered by it, frankly, we do not care12.
In his interview with Russkoe Informatsionnoe Agentsvo Novosti Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich discussed Sergei Lavrov’s August 2011 visit to Latin America, saying, “In recent years, Russia's relations with Latin American countries have acquired a qualitatively new momentum. It is important that the intensification of our ties with Latin American countries fits into the new configuration of international relations of the contemporary multi-polar world. This is a new level of interaction between the evolving development centers, one of which is to become Latin America. Its leading states demonstrate an ability to actively and productively participate in dealing with issues on the global agenda and in economic growth rates the region is second only perhaps to Asia. Not for
11 President of the Russian Federation. The Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. Approved by Dmitry A. Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, on 12 July 2008.
12 Joint news conference with President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. April 15, 2010, Buenos Aires // President of Russia. URL: eng.kremlin.ru/transcripts/94. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
nothing have experts begun to talk of the dawn of a ‘Latin American decade.’’’13
“Home to our friends, home to people close to us”, “close cooperation”, “multipolar world” are the key messages of the modern Latin American Strategy of Russia, which have enjoyed broad acceptance amongst local elites and abroad strata of the general public.
Russia aims at stabilization of the relations with Latin America and extension of the achieved level of collaboration in the region taking into account the mutual interests and material and financial opportunities. The important role here is given to the cultural and educational exchanges, expansion of the system of foreign specialists’ preparation on the basis of Russian education. The main attention in the opinion of Russian leaders should be paid to the activation of the relations between such Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Chile and other ones.
In 2008, RIA Novosty opened its Cuban bureau. It was a step towards more complete presence of the leading Russian news agency in the region. In 2010, further strengthening of the informational presence of Russia in the region took place as Spanish columns from Rossijskaya Gazeta appeared in the biggest Latin American periodicals - “Clarin”, “Jornal do Brasil”, “Russia Today” also started broadcasting in Spanish.
An important role in public diplomacy of Russia plays the Federal Agency for the CIS, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo). It was established in September 200814. The Agency is subordinated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its head is be nominated by the president of Russia (the Russian statesman, diplomat Konstantin Kosachev was appointed the head of this federal agency on March, 5 th, 2012). Rossotrudnichestvo operates beyond the Russian Federation through representations or through representatives as a part of diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation in 73 countries of the world. Today geographically Rossotrudnichestvo covers territory from the United States of America to Japan and from Finland to Argentina.15
The activities of Rossotrudnichestvo and its foreign departments are aimed at forming and establishing an omnifaceted notion of the contemporary Russia, of its material and spiritual potential, of the content of its domestic and foreign policy.
It is not only the state authorities that Rossotrudnichestvo collaborates with. Its
13 Daly J. Russia and Latin America - Deja Vu all Over Again // Oil Price. 24 August 2011. URL: oilprice.com/Geopolitics/International/Russia-And-Latin-America-Deja-Vu-All-Over-Again.html (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
14In its development, Rossotrudnichestvo bases on the more than octogenarian experience of its predecessors: the All-Union Society of Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Union of Sovietic Societies of Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Russian Center for International Scientific and Cultural Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Roszarubezhcenter).
15О Россотрудничестве // Россотрудничество. URL: rs.gov.ru/node/28132. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
cooperation is fruitful with such NGOs as the Russian Association of International Cooperation, which unites over 70 social unions, including funds of friendship with foreign countries, "Russkiy Mir" Foundation, Andrey Pervozvanny Foundation, "Russkoe Zarubezhye" Library Foundation, Russian Culture Foundation, International Council of Russian Compatriots, Theater Union, International Museum Union, International Association of Twin Cities, Moscow Union of Friendship Societies, Saint Petersburg Association for International Cooperation and many others.
Among Rossotrudnichestvo media partners we can name ITAR-TASS, RIA Novosti, such channels as «Russia Today» and TVC, «MIR», «Golos Rossii» radio station, such magazines as "Russkaya misl", "Russkiy vek", "Russkiy Mir" and other leading Russian and numerous foreign mass media and compatriots' editions in Russian.
For 2012, Rossotrudnichestvo plans to hold hundreds of events just for Latin American countries. You can get acquainted with their schedule at the Rossotrudnichestvo site. They are grouped according to the countries and directions: international conferences, social events, work with compatriots, Russian language studies, cultural and educational events16.
For example, the following Social Events are planned to be held in Venezuela in 2012: organization and carrying out of a series of events dedicated to Russia's exploring circum- and extraterrestrial space (105 years since Sergei Korolev was born", "75 years since Valentina Tereshkova was born", "International Astronaut Day", "55 years since the first satellite was launched"); a round table "Relevant Aspects of the Cooperation between Russia and Venezuela"; celebration of the Motherland Defender Day; organization and carrying out of events in honor of memorable dates of Russian History (303th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, 200th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, celebration of the Day of Defeat of Fascist Army in the battle of Kursk, celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Stolypin, a Russian politician, statesman and reformer); a round table «The Role of People's Diplomacy in the Development of International Humanitarian Cooperation».
Cultural Events: Exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of Aleksandr Pushkin birthday; round table "Cultural Heritage and Its Impact on the Development of "World Humanitarian Fund", featuring graduates of Russian universities; a musical night featuring the Russian piano player, Igor Lavrov.
Educational Events: exhibitions "Higher Education in the Russian Federation»,
16План основных мероприятий Россотрудничества на 2012 год. Страны Америки. URL: rs.gov.ru/sites/rs.gov.ru/files/PlanAmericaedit.pdf. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
"World Seen by Children" timed to coincide with the Day of Knowledge; seminar "The Role of Michail Lermontov in Russian Literature" etc.
We can only regret that the Rossotrudnichestvo site is only in Russian, which can hinder accomplishing the main goals of Rossotrudnichestvo. However, some members of the Russian Association of International Cooperation do have multilingual sites and use them efficiently. The most appropriate example of this today is the site of the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
Created by a presidential decree on June 21, 2007, Russkiy Mir Foundation turns five years old today. Tasked with popularizing Russian language abroad, supporting existing and creation new programs for studying Russian language, establishing contacts and cooperating with Russian-language organizations outside Russia, the Foundation has been intensively working to achieve these goals over the past five years. The Foundation site has not only developed an English-speaking version, but also condensed versions in German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese languages. Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service operatively represents the information on various forms of interaction of Russia with other countries, first of all in sphere of public diplomacy. The fund by itself actively develops corresponding programs.
The Internet television channel Russkiy Mir TV which is a news and cultural awareness channel about Russia, the Russian language and culture. The Foundation’s Russkiy Mir Cabinet program is aimed at creating conditions conducive to the study of Russian language as well as increasing knowledge and understanding of Russian culture and the realities of contemporary Russia. Russkiy Mir Cabinets are organized and adapted in accordance with the specific needs of the hosting organization, including specially selected collections of language learning textbooks and literature as well as informational materials and audio-visual presentations about modern Russia, its culture and history. The Foundation supports the creation of Russkiy Mir Cabinets via the provision of a contract-based donation to the hosting organization17.
The Foundation was quite successful in Latin America. Cabinets emerge one by one in different countries thanks to numerous efforts on searching for an optimal partner and creation of material, financial and educational base for the fruitful implementation of development of a new Cabinet. Opening of the Cabinet itself becomes a people's diplomacy event.
17Russkiy Mir Cabinet // Russkiy Mir Foundation. URL:www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/en/programs/rooms/rooms.html. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
For example on September 9, 2011 the grand opening of Russkiy Mir Cabinet at the Maxim Gorky Russian-Peruvian School was attended by Russian Ambassador to Peru N.V. Sofinsky, director of RF MFA Department for Engagement with Fellow Countrymen Abroad, A.V. Chepurin, representative of Rossotrudnichestvo B.F. Gnatyuk and participants of the Fifth Regional Conference of Compatriots from 18 nations of North and South America.
On September 15, the opening ceremony of the Russkiy Mir Cabinet took place in Sao Paolo at the Laboratory of Russian Studies of the philology department of Sao Paolo University (SPU). It was attended by vice consul of RF General Consulate D.S. Sarantsev, dean Sandra Nitrini, head of the Russian language and literature chair Arlete Cavaliere as well as teachers and students. Russkiy Mir Foundation was represented by director of American programs Nikolai Mikhailov18.
The Russian Orthodox Church has been an active actor in the process of public diplomacy of Russia in Latin America On multiple occasions over the last few years, it initiated events of regional importance. One from it the Round Table on Compatriots and Russian Orthodox Church: Experience of Cooperation in Latin America Held in Buenos Aires on August 22-23, 2010. It was organized by the Department for External Church Relations and the Russian Foreign Ministry. The conference was attended by clergy and laity from Argentine, Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Ecuador19.
It is possible and is necessary to go further in development of strategic communication in Latin America. For example, plans of Rossotrudnichestvo can count more actively on the achievements of modern multimedia technologies, the Russian organizations in the sphere of public diplomacy are still poor users of social networks such as Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. The publishing of the art and academic literature in Spanish and Portuguese also in dare need of state support. And private publishing companies can earn money in such projects. I remember how satisfied was a Portuguese to get a book from me like a gift published by Progress Publishing House on Russian Kitchen. But it happened twenty five years ago. RT in Spanish - is a fine project, but limits of financial support, in our opinion, obviously affects its possibilities.
18 Russkiy Mir Cabinets Open in Peru and Brazil // Russkiy Mir Foundation. URL:
www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/en/news/fund/news0291.html. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
19 The Conclusion of the “Compatriots and the Russian Orthodox Church: Experiences in Cooperation in Latin
America” Round Table // The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. URL:
www.synod.com/synod/eng2010/8ensaconclrtd.html. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
Domestic serious sociological surveys on efficiency of strategic communication of Russia in Latin America are urgently in need. Meanwhile they are completed now... in the USA.
Although Russia has increased its foreign relations with Central and South American countries, the respondents in those countries were more likely to disapprove than approve of Russia's leadership, while a majority (a median of 62%) express no opinion20. We can find this information in the poll done by Gallup in 200821.
Do you approve or disapprove of the job per^jnnence of the leadership of Russia?
| Global median Central/South American median
f>2.%
3.0%
±ъ% 2.1%
Approve Disapprove Don't kiww/Refumfd
Includes most recent survey data for H 0 countries GALLUP POLL
It seems it is true because Russia’s coming back to Latin America is in process only. The years of the Cold War and of “lost” 1990-s can’t disappear immediately. The contemporary Russia has also enough serious problems (criminality, unemployment, low salaries etc.) and they communicate like deeds, words and images all over the world. Of course sometimes with some promotion efforts coming from outside or because of some stereotypes of the past but they do exist. Nevertheless the country has a good chance to go ahead in its strategic communication in Latin America.
Gallup gives a good example how bad politics does a lot of harm to the USA and some opportunities to Russia.
20 Brown I. Russia Making No Clear Gains With Latin Americans// Gallup World. November 19, 2008. URL: /http://www.gallup.com/poll/111988/Russia-Making-Clear-Gains-Latin-Americans.aspx (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
21 Results are based on face-to-face interviews with at least 1,000 adults in Latin American countries.
“Among respondents who did state an opinion, only Venezuelans and Colombians were statistically more likely to approve than disapprove of Russia's leadership”22 comments . Ian T. Brown in Gallup World the results of the poll. But he doesn’t explain why Colombians are so sympathetic to the leadership of Russia. The Venezuelans’ motives are understandable. Perhaps they acquainted with Russia better than other nations mentioned in the poll. And they know better Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev through close contacts with Hugo Chavez.
But about Colombians? The interstate relations between Venezuela and Colombia in 2008 were very far from being cordial and a close friend of my enemy typically is not my friend. The relations between Russia and Colombia were good and continue to develop but of course they are not so close as with Venezuela. Russia’s leaders visited Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua but not Colombia and could influence the Colombians from very large distances. So no evident reasons for preferences in approval of Russian leadership one can find. But the USA found themselves in Colombia much more “at home” than in any other Latin American country mentioned in the poll. In 2008 appeared the information on the agreement on the development of the US military presence in that country. The result is obvious...
22Brown I. Russia Making No Clear Gains With Latin Americans// Gallup World. November 19, 2008. URL: /http://www.gallup.com/poll/111988/Russia-Making-Clear-Gains-Latin-Americans.aspx (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
Strategic communication could develop much more effectively if it opens a full scope of opportunities given by communication management.
Communication management is the deliberate and systematic use of different forms (written, oral, visual, etc.), means (books, newspapers, radio, TV, Internet, etc.), types (intrapersonal, fictitious23, interpersonal, group, mass, etc.), methods (persuasion, suggestion, infection, neurolinguistic programming, orientation, multi-channel capability, normalization, variability, etc.) of communication; professional communication activity (public relations, advertising, journalism, propaganda, agitation, informational warfare, etc.) and complicated communication products (communication chains, high-profile reaction, etc.) for the purposes of managing.
Communication management in its complete embodiment is always a multi-level construction with the strategic goals, but it does not deny the importance of practical knowledge and skills of its separate elements for tactical aims. Altogether it would be a mistake to consider communication management just as a sum of communication technologies in public administration. Communication management means the projection of the real public actions to the consciousness of target audiences in such a way that helps increase the effectiveness of the whole system of management reducing excessive pressure on administrative, financial and other levers of management not denying them24.
The component of information security plays an important role in the Russian foreign policy and strategic communication. For example in February 2009, deputy Chief of the Russian Federation’s General Staff, Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitzyn in his article published by Red Star analyzed some threats to the Russian Federation in the sphere of the information security. Among them are:
- Obstacles in the path of equal cooperation with other countries;
- That important decision-making can be hampered (information manipulations of
political decision-making present a special danger);
- The atmosphere of tension and political instability in society can be created etc25.
We can hardly ever argue the fact that the image of Russia is better in Cuba and
Venezuela than in the former Baltic republics; and the image of the USA is better in the minds of the Latvians, the Estonians and the Lithuanians than in the Cubans or Venezuelans. Foreign policy is not the main reason here. The matter is in the difficult history of small nations
23Fictitious communication exists only in the imagination of its originator.
24See more: Pashentsev E. Communication Management and Strategic Communication. Moscow, 2012. Pp. 12-13.
25Красная Звезда. 27 февраля 2009 г.
neighboring world powers. No world power is persistent in respectable relations with small neighbors through all the history of their relationships; probably vice versa. Old offences are healing slowly and the strategic communication of Russia and the USA should not be directed at the warming up, at the same time this situation should not be considered from the point of view of the counterpart’s craft. The concrete analysis and concrete evaluation as well as mutual exchange of opinions and specialists are necessary.
It was not easy for Moscow to come to the current relations with Latin America. It had to go through an open hostility of the administration of President Bush and then it faced almost undisguised unfriendly attitude of President Obama conservative team members, the ambassador staff in Latin America which he had inherited from the Republicans. The reset of the US-Russia relations announced by Obama is too far from being constructive. Washington stonewalled almost all Russia’s initiatives on the international arena and especially those which concern Latin America26.
Strategic communication: War or Peace?
The existing contradictions in strategic communication of the USA in many respects are connected with obvious split in the American establishment concerning foreign policy strategy in a whole and in the Latin American region in particular.
In 2008, at Bush's administration, the report of Independent Task Force of Council of Foreign Relations contained the remarkable conclusion:"Latin America is not Washington's to lose; nor is it Washington's to save," finds the Task Force. "U.S. policy can no longer be based on the assumption that the United States is the most important outside actor in Latin America. If there was an era of U.S. hegemony in Latin America, it is over," the Task Force concludes. However, "Washington's basic policy framework, however, has not changed sufficiently to reflect the new reality."27
Very true and exact remark. However, all the last years mass-media of the USA, research in the state and non state structures are full of negative concerning competitors of the USA in Latin American market, in particular China and Russia, and warn about danger of growth of their influence in the region. It clearly gives out struggle between the so called "an imperial" and "realistic" direction in strategic vision of future of the region (and not only) in ruling elite of the USA. Meanwhile, only refusal of stereotypes of "cold war» and proper attention to real global and especially Latin American problems will allow to avoid the further
26 Russia - Latin America: the union of solidarity and pragmatism. // Strategic Culture Foundation. URL: http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2010/06/21/6543.html. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
27U.S.-Latin America Relations: A New Direction for a New Reality. Washington: Council of Foreign Relations, 2008. P. 5.
deterioration of relations with the countries of region and sharper fall of image of the USA among the local population.
Certainly, in the democratic country could exist and should be discussed in a open way different points of view on important foreign policy issues, however that should not be projected in public consciousness as inability of great power to distinguish real threats from a natural course of events, inability to react adequately to objective changes in the world, as perversity and inefficiency of the strategic communication.
Meanwhile we can observe the prevailing inadequacy in attitude of the USA towards the rising presence of Russia in the world and, in Latin America in particular. Trade competition rises to a level of irreconcilable opposition with external "enemy" and threats for national security of the USA that keeps within imperialistic rhetoric on the eve of the first and second world wars. This struggle has also directly grasped a sphere of strategic communication.
On the occasion of RFE’s 60th anniversary in Washington DC (September 2010), Walter Isaacson (appointed by President Barack Obama the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors28) said: We can’t allow ourselves to be out-communicated by our enemies (emphasis added). There’s that Freedom House report that reveals that today’s autocratic leaders are investing billions of dollars in media resources to influence the global opinion. You’ve got Russia Today, Iran’s Press TV, Venezuela’s TeleSUR, and of course, China is launching an international broadcasting 24-hour news channel with correspondents around the world - spent - reportedly set aside six (billion dollars) to $10 billion - we’ve to go to Capitol Hill with that number - to expand their overseas media operations.29 To many it sounded like a declaration of information war, but later Mr. Isaacson backtracked. Isaacson told RT he does not view the network as an enemy and his words were not in context: “I definitely do not think of RT as an enemy. It’s a, I was referring to Afghanistan.” Isaacson said he was discussing how other nations are doing more public diplomacy than the US, increasing completion30. But what was told was told and appeared all over the world in the
28 BBG, an independent federal agency in charge of all U. S. civilian international news broadcasting.
29 Celebrating 60 years of RFE. Remarks by Walter Isaacson, Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors, President/CEO, Aspen Institute, Tuesday, September 28, 2010. MFree Media Online.URL:docs.rferl.org/en-US/2010/09/29/100928%20rferl-isaacson.pdf. (Accessed: 22 June 2012). Being a CNN president Walter Isaacson authorized CNN to provide two different versions of the war: a more critical one for the global audience and a sugarcoated one for Americans. Isaacson instructed the domestic CNN to be certain that any story that might undermine support for the US war be balanced with a reminder that the war on terrorism is a response to the heinous attacks of September 11. .. .See: Mass Media Top Journalists Expose Major Mass Media Cover-ups //WantToKnow.info. URL: www.wanttoknow.info/massmedia. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
30It’s official: RT is the enemy. 07.10.2010 // RT. URL: rt.com/usa/news/us-money-media-wars. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
mainstream media, blogs in different languages...
The enemy proclaimed. Not a long time it was necessary to wait for the beginning of
the war.
“We are in an information war and we are losing that war. Al Jazeera is winning, the Chinese have opened a global multi-language television network, the Russians have opened up an English-language network. I’ve seen it in a few countries, and it is quite instructive,”31 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared while appearing before a Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 2, 2011.
So the information war of the USA with the major part of the rest of the world was officially declared by the Secretary of State. It is all in the numbers. For instance, RT’s presence on YouTube is a real hit: almost 300 million views, when CNN International is struggling to reach 3 million32. The Russian threat is evident - please give your money...the money of the American tax payers by the way.
It is clear, why the former CNN president finds enemies among his more lucky market competitors, but, alas, what for the head of DoS is connected to this campaign? Only to prove, that the profit of the American media magnates for her - at the head of a corner or to receive necessary budget assignments?
In 2009 Hillary Clinton said China, Russia and Iran were making gains in Latin America, opening large embassies and creating close economic and political ties with leaders who had been hostile to Washington during the Bush administration. "If you look at the gains particularly in Latin America that Iran is making and China is making, it is quite disturbing. They are building very strong economic and political connections with a lot of these leaders.. .We are competing for attention and relationships with at least the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians," she said. It was certainly not in the U.S. interest to turn its back on any country in the hemisphere33.
This logic in such an atmosphere eludes to the anti-Russia statements made by Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. In the interview with Fox Radio, Romney repeated his earlier characterization of Russia as "geopolitical foe Number One” - a remark that has raised questions among Democrats and even some Republicans about whether he remains stuck in a Cold War mindset. He sought to put the
31 Hillary Clinton declares international information war03 March, 2011 // RT.URL: rt.com/news/information-war-media-us/ (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
32 Ibid.
33Pleming S. China, Iran gains in Latam "disturbing": Clinton // Reuters.May 1, 2009.
URL:www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/01/us-latam-usa-clinton-idUSTRE54056120090501. (Accessed:
22 June 2012).
notion to rest, but did not deviate from his earlier controversial assertions. "The nation which consistently opposes our actions at The United Nations has been Russia," Romney said. "We're of course not enemies. We're not fighting each other. There's no Cold War, but Russia is a geopolitical foe in that regard."34
Probably, Mr. Romney declares Russia to be a foe Number One only to get support of a conservative part of electorate and becomes Number One in the USA? But his rhetoric, in turn, becomes an appreciable part of the general negative information-psychological background creating conditions for inadequate decisions at the state level.
It is interesting to track the American researchers coverage of the rising presence of Russia in Latin America. As an example I’d like to introduce several quotations from the article written by Stephen Blank, a professor of Russian Security Studies at the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College in Pennsylvania and published by the French Institute of International Relations35:
- And while neither Russia nor Venezuela will challenge the US military, e.g. with Russian bases in Cuba, their individual and collective goals entail the substantial worsening of East-West relations and of the acute instabilities already existing on the continent36.
- Unfortunately Moscow’s current foreign policy - and that of supporters like president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez, albeit for different reasons - aims to embroil the continent in a contest with Washington37.
- Consequently Russian policy in Latin America is ultimately an American policy. It aims to instrumentalize the region as a series of countries or even a weak but still discernible political bloc to support Russian positions against US dominance in world affairs.Moscow’s policy is a part of its larger effort to realize this so-called multipolar world38.
34Shelley M. Romney keeps up strong rhetoric on Russia. // Political Hotsheet. June 19, 2012.URL:www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57456060-503544/romney-keeps-up-strong-rhetoric-on-russia. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
35Ifri was the only French research institute placed among the top 50 most influential think tanks in the world (outside of the United States), according to the Global Think Tank Report 2011, published by the University of Pennsylvania. This report covers 6,545 think tanks located in 182 countries. See: Ifri, a Leading French Think Tank on International Questions // Institut Frangais des Relations Internationales (Ifri). URL:http://www.ifri.org/?page=missions_uk&&lang=uk. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
36 Blank S. Russia in Latin America: Geopolitical Games in the US’s Neighborhood // Russie. Nei. Visions. №38. April 2009. P. 8.
37 Ibid. P. 9.
38 Ibid. P. 10.
- Moscow has no vision for the continent, and its policies could easily aggravate problems which are profound and deeply entrenched39.
- Russia’s anti-American campaign appeared to confront with Latin American interests, as a result of the turn to leftism in several Latin American states beginning around 2006.40. First, Moscow’s main motives in Latin America are clearly geopolitical and tied to its self-presentation as a global superpower and rival of the US41.
It is only a small part of critical assessments of Russia’s policy in Latin America done by Stephen Blank which is rather typical to the current situation in the USA.
The roots of the fall of influence of the USA in Latin America are very far from being a result of any kind of “aggressive penetration” to Latin America by Russia, China or other powers. In addition, they are not the consequences of the faults of this or that administration.
When George W. Bush took office Latin America wasn’t a key interest for the USA. Furthermore, various governmental documents and statements depicted an extremely unpleasant image of the region as a home for terrorists, crime circles and drug dealers: “They watch they probe looking for areas of vulnerability, for weakness and for seams in our collective security”, pointed out Donald Ramsfeld42.
Latin America was turning Left while the USA was being ruled by the neoliberal republicans; the region needed intense attention to the numerous social problems but on the contrary it was only urged to follow the North American strategy of fighting the world’s evil
- the global terrorism. The transmitting of this inadequate for the most Latin Americans message and yet fundamental message by the powerful American mass media brought about negative reaction and sense of alienation. Many pro-American governments and powers (including local mass media) often against their will found themselves involved in this process which meant their almost total and unprecedented de-organization and decline.
The administration of G. W. Bush emphasized Western Hemisphere summits, but these meetings typically produced little beyond photo opportunities and mutual, but nearly rhetorical, commitments to cooperation. The administration continued to emphasize a
39 Ibid. P. 11.
40 Ibid. P. 14
41Ibid. P. 22.
42Ramsfeld D. Defense Secretary. 2004. Ministerial of the Americas. 17 November. URL: www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=2175 (Accessed 20 May 2011).
proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) long after this goal become unfeasible43.
Instead of building better bridges toward the closest neighbors, the US started construction of a fence at the border with Mexico (looking like the Soviet frontier fortifications between the USSR and other ‘fraternal countries of socialism’). What an image of the relationships between the USA and Latin America that sent both to the US citizens and the peoples of Latin America and to the rest of the world?
The rise to power in the USA a new administration of B. Obama caused in Latin America a wave of great expectations however this is entirely US domestic affair. The image of the new President was totally positive for the most Latin Americans. It is worth mentioning that such vigorous critics of G. W. Bush as H. Chaves and F. Castro are rather uncritical about the first statements and steps of the administration towards Latin America. It confirmed the ability of B. Obama to create the image of the most popular North American President during the last decades.
The US Administration has outlined four pillars for the regional partnership with the Western Hemisphere: protecting citizen security; expanding economic opportunity and social inclusion; securing our clean energy future; and supporting democratic, transparent, and accountable institutions of governance. These were the key messages of the President Obama to the region many times repeated by him and the top officials of his administration and widespread in Latin America. The more repeated, the more effectively disseminated, the more practical implementation was expected among the public.
But very soon Obama's "change you can believe in" campaign began to look like "more of the same." The recognition of the November 2009 elections in Honduras for a new president soon after June 28th coup in that country, provoked the negative reaction in many countries of Latin America. Also in June, reports began to surface about a secret agreement between the United States and Colombia to allow U.S. access to seven military bases in Colombia44.
As Brazilian President Lula da Silva has expressed many times, U.S. policy toward Cuba has become the litmus test for U.S. relations with Latin America. Despite initial movement, the Obama administration has returned to the same policy of conditionality -demanding improvements in human rights and democracy in exchange for the loosening of US policy - that has prevented engagement in the past. The solitary disposition of the USA
43Lowenthal A., Piccone T. J., Whitehead L. The Obama administration and Americas: agenda for change. Washington, 2009. P. 5.
44 Stephens S. Why Latin America is Disappointed with Barack Obama. // Huffpost World. January 7, 2010. URL: www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-stephens/why-latin-america-is-disa_b_415341.html (Accessed 20 May 2011).
against the UN’s resolutions to lift economic sanctions on Cuba makes definitely negative effect of the attitude to this country in the region.
Zachary Fillingham in Geopoliticalmonitor.com (a Canadian intelligence publication and consultancy) supposes that there are two factors that are currently harming American interests in Latin America. The first is the burden of history insofar that several governments view relations with the United States through the lens of Washington’s pseudo-colonial past. The second is American decline, or in other words, a new reality in global politics that casts the United States as one important player among several others. It follows that Latin American states now enjoy a greater degree of choice in international economic, political, and military engagements.
In many ways, Russia is a natural winner here, for its’ capital, energy reserves, international influence, and military technology represent an appealing alternative to feeding the politically unpopular perception of American dominance in the region45. That is why the roots of more independent stand of Latin American countries are determined in a more and more multipolar world by much more fundamental reasons that the aspirations of this or that leader of Latin America, or faults or successes in geopolitical games of the USA and Russia if they and to what extent they really exist.
According to Walter Walle, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs46 May 2012 analysis it is important to observe that Russia is not the only country that is vying to extend its influence over the region. The European Union, China, Taiwan and Iran have all demonstrated an interest in economic and political opportunities and partnerships, as well as diplomatic alliances gestating in the region. But Cold War rhetoric will still continue to resonate; both with Russia’s influence in Latin America and the U.S.’ presence in the Caucasus. Under this dogmatic hangover, Washington will always be suspicious of its longtime rival’s actions, in Latin America or elsewhere; even if Russia’s intentions in engaging Latin American governments are wholeheartedly innocent. By archaically viewing this region as America’s backyard, a la the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. fails to properly conceptualize the depth of Russian involvement in Latin America, mis-characterizing it as a
45 Fillingham Z. Russia Eyes Latin America//Geopolitical Monitor. April 5, 2010. URL:
www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/russia-eyes-latin-america-1 (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
46 Founded in 1975, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), a nonprofit, tax-exempt independent research and information organization, was established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere, raise the visibility of regional affairs and increase the importance of the inter-American relationship, as well as encourage the formulation of rational and constructive U.S. policies towards Latin America. In 1982, COHA’s board of trustees voted to expand its mandate to include monitoring Canadian/Latin American relations. Since its inception, COHA has been one of the most active and broadest-based U.S. private bodies dealing with the entire spectrum of political, economic and diplomatic issues, as well as responding to the economic and political challenges confronting the nations of this hemisphere.
strategic threat, while in reality this may not be the case47.
No doubt it is dangerous to start with doubtful argument Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi and consider a threat to exclusive or prevailing position of the USA in the markets of this or that country, this or that region as a threat to its national security. Any similar interpretation is an evident display of imperial mode of thinking and imperial politics, fraught with dangerous consequences for the whole world. Especially putting in consideration that the trade turmoil of Russia with Latin America now approximately thirty times smaller the US-Latin America turmoil. At the same time the GDP of Russia less of the US only seven times, and where is Russian expansion in the region?
Is it possible to see the way out from the blind alley of the rising tension in the relationships between Russia and the USA, in Latin America in particular? We shall try to open some perspectives in this area from the point of view of strategic communication of two powers.
Once again we want to repeat that strategic communication is the projection in mass consciousness of some strategic values, interests and goals in this or that way. And these goals can more or less coincide, coexist or compete, to be at enmity, to be in war or finally exclude each other. If strategic communication of Russia and the USA (desirably, that of other countries as well) projects a great number of coinciding basic values into the public conscience, this possibility will be the best option for most of the Earth population, as well as for those countries themselves and for global safety. If we want peace, our main goal is to obtain harmonious coincidence of interests, values and goals, though it does not depend on strategic communication completely. It doesn't mean defending immoral compromises, it means defending pluralism in the respect of the means and models of development based on dialectical unity of the main laws, as well as of national and regional peculiarities of human development.
We consider it possible to present our general recommendations for optimization of strategic communication of the two countries within the framework of the word and deed policy, refusing on information war in favor of mutual beneficial cooperation.
- In order to decrease the tension between each other and improve the promotion of the images of the two nations in the continent, it is sensible to launch joint projects in the domains which are crucial for the increase of prosperity and liquidation of current arrearage of Latin American countries. For this is needed the increase of involvement
47 Walle W. Russia Turns to the South for Military and Economic Alliances. May 8, 2012. URL: www.coha.org/russia-turns-to-the-south-for-military-and-economic-alliances. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
of Latin American partners in these projects, especially in its hi-tech elements. The projects should be open for participation of other countries and unions, such as the EU, China, India, Japan etc.). Any possibility of turning Latin America into the object of new neo imperialistic claims and division of the spheres of influence should be excluded. However, ever acute competition between states does not exclude cooperation and even implies it. There are quite few projects of the kind. For instance, in October 2011 Russian Soyuz launched two Galileo satellites, belonging to the European GPS system, which as a direct competitor of the Russian system, GLONASS. The Russian medium capacity launcher "Soyuz-СТ-Б" with two space vehicles for the European navigation satellite system Galileo started from Kuru spaceport (French Guiana), which was the first taking off of a Russian Soyuz from the territory of Latin America48.
Global joint projects involving Latin American partners, such as search and development of alternative energy sources, life (especially its active period) prolongation, solution of alimentation and ecological problems etc. It is rather important to achieve the forced development of projects vital for all mankind by joint efforts. For example ITER (an acronym of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is an international research and engineering project which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France. The ITER project aims to make the long-awaited transition from experimental studies of plasma physics to full-scale electricity-producing fusion power plants. The project is funded and run by seven member entities - the European Union (EU), India, Japan, the People's Republic of China, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The EU, as host party for the ITER complex, is contributing 45% of the cost, with the other six parties contributing 9% each. Launched in 1985, the ITER project was formally agreed to and funded in 2006 with a cost estimate of 12.8 billion Euros. This is the estimated cost of the ten-year construction phase of the ITER project. The cost is shared by the seven ITER Members (representing 34 countries)49. Practically one billion Euro per year for a new type of energy in 2040es but if 10 billion per year will be available it could come much earlier. Too much amount of money? Not at all to be compared
48 Запуск российской ракеты-носителя "Союз-СТ-Б" осуществлен с космодрома в Гвианском космическом центре // ИТАР-ТАСС. URL: www.itar-tass.com/c1/253237.html. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
49 Iter. Facts & Figures // Iter. URL: www.iter.org/factsfigures. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
with more than one trillion world military expenditures and more than 70 trillion world GDP.
Preparatory and experimental phases of vitally important for all mankind project have appeared to be inadmissibly stretched in time at least for half a century. And it is explained not only by scientific and technical complexity of the project.
In the National Intelligence Program of the USA (2009) we can read the following: “China shares many interests with the United States, but its increasing natural resource-focused diplomacy and military modernization are among the factors making it a complexglobal challenge”50. But why then the USA have invested in the project so small, as much as South Korea did?
Russia with population more than twice and GDP seven times smaller than of the USA supplies the project by the same funding. And Russia has 25% of all Global stocks of hydrocarbons and is not very interested in the development of this area from the point of view of its current interests.
Meanwhile the solution of an energy problem is in the interests of all mankind including the average American consumer rather dissatisfied with the growth of expenses on gasoline and heating. The solution of an energy problem will remove also concerns of the USA by increasing natural resource-focused diplomacy of China. But something is against more effective long-term investment in ITER and other similar projects. In one of his interviews, Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) alleged that while America’s oil and natural gas companies make “huge profits,” they “pay nothing in taxes.” 51 They act practically all over the world. Do these companies really want the quick success of ITER project the question is
- A priority interest in bi- and multilateral relations with Latin American countries to hi-tech branches wherever and as much as it is considered mutually beneficial. According to Stephen Blank Russia fully understands Brazil’s importance as South America’s largest economy and a regional power and seeks much closer economic ties with it. Since at least 2006, Moscow has been pursuing what it calls a “technological alliance” with Brazil, because together they can initiate world class technological projects. Of course Latin American countries also benefit. Not only do they gain exposure to a large and powerful market, they also achieve economic and geopolitical aims. For example, Lukoil may provide fuel and diesel fuel for the
50 The National Intelligence Strategy. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence. August 2009. P. 3.
51 Johnson B. The truth about America’s oil & gas companies - Part I. 25 April, 2011. URL: dailycaller.com/2011/04/25/the-truth-about-americas-oil-gas-companies-part-i/ (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
thermal power plants in the winter where there tend to be gas shortages, Russia will also help construct the Northeast pipeline to Bolivia52.
- In September 2011, the Russian car OEM, KAMAZ, has agreed to create a joint bus making enterprise in Russia with the Brazilian Marcopolo. According to the trade commissioner of the Russian Federation in Brasil, Sergey Baldin, Russia could be interested in the Brazilian partners' experience in livestock breeding, bird breeding and in organization of production chains based on farms and cooperatives. Or the largest Brazilian plane-maker Embraer is interested to have Russian plane making industry as a partner in designing and producing regional planes of up to 50 seats in Russia. This proposal is being considered by the interested Russian companies53.In September 2011 Venezuela signed a long-term agreement(2013-2030) with the China Development Bank, which includes major projects in construction, telecommunications, health, technology and agriculture. So far, China’s Development Bank investment in Venezuela, through the China Development Fund, exceeds $30 billion54.
What made the USA when the USSR on geopolitical motives in days of the Cold War was not welcomed on Latin American markets, and the competition from China was not existed at all, to render more effective assistance in overcoming of general backwardness to the Latin American countries?
The sad law is marked: Mexico and the countries of Central America, the Spanishspeaking states of Caribbean basin historically most connected with the USA economically, worried unlike more than other ones direct interventions and occupations coming from their North American neighbor and even territory annexations (Mexico, Cuba), on the average lag behind the countries of the South America in the economic and cultural-educational sphere. It is remarkable, that even last regional report of IMF on a situation in Latin America (generalizes the data on the end of September, 2011) ascertains: “In South American economies where output hovers above potential and domestic demand is still strong, overheating dangers have lessened but not fully disappeared. Countries with strong real linkages to the United States, like Mexico and much of Central America, face a somewhat
52 Blank S. Russia in Latin America: Geopolitical Games in the US’s Neighborhood // Russie. Nei. Visions. №38. April 2009. P. 15.
53 Российские "Тигры" проложат дорогу конкурентной продукции из РФ на рынке Бразилии - торгпред РФ в Бразилии Сергей Балдин // Торговое представительство Российской Федерации в Федеративной Республике Бразилии. URL: torgrussia.org/publ/intervju/2-1-0-4. (Accessed: 22 June 2012).
54Correo del Orinoco. Caracas. September 16, 2011.
weaker outlook”. 55
- Maximal possible transparency on preparation and implementation of joint projects.
- Well-thought system of consultations and meetings of strategic communication experts in order to discuss the emerging problems on time. Just in 1996 Timothy L. Thomas, an analyst at the Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas proposed:
One of the easiest ways for the West to begin joint talks on information warfare with Russia is through the medium of a conference among academics or through an unofficial organization or club. The academy could serve as a forum for broader discussions with the West and already appears oriented this way, having several foreigners on its membership roll. By starting this discussion soon, Russia and the West can prevent a new arms race over information systems and technologies from gaining momentum and spinning out of control. With the rate of progress in the realm of information technology, time really is of the essence56.
A very good idea, all the opportunities of it are far from being realized yet.
- The efficiency of strategic communications as means of collaboration is negligible in case strategic interests and goals mismatch drastically. In this case, strategic communication inevitably becomes a tool of information warfare. There should be cherished no illusions of the contrary.
- That is why compromises are essential, as well as searching for ways to combine interests. Strategic communication can be very fruitful for creation of a climate useful for such search, but it can aggravate the situation as well. To a certain extent, strategic communication itself is an important (and partly autonomous) factor of rapprochement or estrangement of the parties, and it is vital to procure that it serves to the accomplishment of the former task. We can fully agree with the point of view of Dennis M. Murphy, a professor of information operations and information in warfare at the U.S. Army War College: “Basic theory - you may not change someone’s mind, but you can find areas of agreement where interests overlap”57.
Such a program of joint optimization of strategic communication in the region is
completely impossible to implement in the circumstances of growing tension between Russia and the USA. There is need of serious, revolutionary in its core economic, technological, social and political shifts in the two countries with the consideration of their national
55 Regional Economic Outlook Western Hemisphere Shifting Winds, New Policy Challenges. International Monetary Fund. Oct. 11. Washington, 2011. P. VII.
56 Thomas T. L. Russian Views on Information-Based Warfare // Airpower Journal. Special Edition. 1996. P. 33.
57 Murphy M. D. Actions, Images, Words, Strategic Communication as a Key Leader Skill Set. April 2010. DoD Executive Management Training Center. Southbridge, Massachusetts, April 26-29, 2010.
peculiarities. This is the common interest in order to overcome the threat of a new world war and to provide conditions for worthy democratically and progressive development of the mankind.
The strategic communication of the countries will have to deal with ongoing theoretical and practical problems of further integration of "words and deeds" in the real policy. It should make strategic communication overcome its largely propagandistic level and become not only an element of communication support of foreign policy, but even more of an equal part of foreign policy management, with the appropriate set of tools of communication management, I.e. of professional people management via communications.
Conclusion
Which competitive advantages can Russia plan in its strategic communication returning to Latin America?
- Russia with its recovering economic power and alternative resources of supply and production of arms (together with the EU, China and other countries) symbolizes an alternative for Latin Americans.
- At the same time, Russia can go by recollections about past Soviet power but without fear of communism for local elites. Neither those who like it, nor those who hate it will be able to find it modern Russia.
- The absence of problematic past common with Latin America to be compared with what have the USA.
- As for cultural and interpersonal contacts, Russian culture is closer to multi-active Latin American culture than to linear- active or reactive ones.
- The evident desire to increase the price of its services to the USA for those part of Latin American elite which is interested in the USA; the desire to organize a fast modernization for those who don’t believe in the US support.
- The evident faults in the US foreign policy during the last two decades in the region and in the world; evident unwillingness of Latin America to remain a “backyard” for the USA.
Russia is mainly motivated by its economic interests, but being a nuclear superpower and nearly totally self-sufficient with natural resources unlike other world powers, put in consideration an important geopolitical role of Latin America.
The instability of strategic communication of modern Russia is mainly determined by the instability of its economic resource-based situation, scientific and technical inferiority (more serious than in the USSR) and hot social problems. But if the current model of the
socio-economic and political development has changed in positive direction it could open new strategic perspectives and logically renovate strategic communication.
From the point of view of theoretical research and practical implementation of strategic communication Russia seems to be lagging behind the USA. But this is only on the surface, in fact they are on the same (propaganda) level. The transition to the new level of strategic communications in the USA is not yet complete, and the competitive advantages of communications are neutralized by the negative facts of the communicational sphere itself which predetermined negative perception of the USA in Latin America.
The problem of strategic communication should not be restricted to the field of administrative cooperation, even on the highest level. Especially when the theoretical basis of strategic communication is far from being well-developed. And when the people in charge of developing strategic communication are doing this mainly within the departmental research bodies (first of all the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense in the areas of their responsibility: public diplomacy and information security accordingly) and within the departmental interests. As for the civil academic realm there is simply no opportunity to fully accumulate the experience f the strategic communication of Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other state ministries and structures. At the same time, the domineering of the military structures in developing the concept and practice of strategic communication could have a deforming effect on the strategic communication of Russia in times of peace making it “overmilitarized” which, logically, makes them significantly less efficient. And the bright example of such “overmilitarized” strategic communication we can see in the USA under G. W. Bush Administration. As for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it effectively helps to promote public diplomacy through Rossotrudnichestvo and other correspondent units but can’t do all volume of work in strategic communication.
Consequently, it is impossible to develop an efficient strategic communications concept and strategy using only the experience of the state executive structures, existing academic centers and interdepartmental coordination. It is necessary, at a minimum, to have a large interdepartmental analytical centre on strategic communication having an appropriate hierarchy and subordinacy and an appropriate level of access of the employees to strategic information, etc. Until there is no understanding of its importance on the highest state level, the cardinal changes in the efficiency of strategic communication are hardly possible.
As well it is very important to prepare the specialists well acknowledged with all forms of strategic communication, understanding them as a system, as an essential part of public management (and to develop the relevant programs of MS, PhD studies and MBA,
EMBA programs too). On this way Russia has a good chance to introduce some innovative solutions but not simply copying the Western experience.
It is important to point out that the idea of strategic communication itself as the main management tool in the process of working out important documents on the highest official level does not clarified yet enough. Meanwhile, communications management is an important new integrating discipline should remain the kernel of the modern strategic communication.
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