Public Diplomacy – the art of winning a foreign audience over to a nation’s interests – used to involve winning support through charm, values and cultural exports. It is what political scientists Joseph Nye initially known as “soft power”.
But Our peer-reviewed study Russia’s attempts to make use of foreign media as a diplomatic tool within the run-up to its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 show that this art has been adapted into what we call “hard soft power.”
In this kind of public diplomacy, governments use subtle threats to steer residents of the goal countries feel unsafeThe overarching goals of such a technique are to sow or exacerbate existing divisions, promote social chaos, and expand the geopolitical influence of the responsible country.
Our study examined how Russia uses hard and soft power to win over Russian-speaking populations in the previous Soviet states of Ukraine and Georgia while undermining democratic institutions and societal trust within the United States and its NATO allies.
A content evaluation of over 2,700 news stories from media sources from February to July 2021 showed that Russian-language media based in Georgia and Ukraine consistently presented anti-Western narratives. Prominent narratives included portraying NATO and the European Union as an existential threat to each countries.
These findings correspond with the Expansion of Russia's global intelligence networks within the Vladimir Putin eraincluding RT, formerly Russia Today, and Sputnik, which aim to influence populations and media outside Russia. The study's findings also reflect the close ties that exist between the Kremlin and pro-Russian politicians or local business tycoons who run pro-Russian news media.
Russia’s hard and soft power might be seen as a part of the Russian “Gray area” tacticswhich involve a broader range of coercive or manipulative measures, resembling the dissemination of false representations and Change images.
It also complements Russia’s hard power – the usage of military and economic measures to exert pressure on other countries.
The Russian-speaking population in the previous Soviet states has been a specific goal of the Kremlin's soft power campaigns within the post-Soviet years. This tactic is in step with Moscow's goal of strengthening the loyalty of the Russian diaspora and reinforcing the concept of a “Russian World” or “Russkiy Mir”.
As Russia's neighbors, each Georgia and Ukraine are targets of Moscow's soft power diplomacy in addition to its military aggression. During the period of our investigation, Russia was conducting a preliminary buildup of its forces in Crimea and on Ukraine's eastern border, ahead of the total invasion in February 2022.
Our study found that in this era, a narrative emerged within the Russian media, local Ukrainian media, and native Georgian media emphasizing Russia's ability to counter the military power of Western countries.
Why it is necessary
Our research shows how domestic media will be used as a tool to Russia's propaganda script.
As the US presidential election approaches, the Kremlin and its proxies once more appear Amplify narratives about sensitive issues resembling immigration, race and the Ukraine war. On September 5, 2024, US prosecutors will Charges against two Russian media managers about secretly funding right-wing Americans to supply videos that promote Moscow's interests and “reinforce domestic divisions to weaken American opposition.”
While Russia is the country that conducts most propaganda and disinformation campaigns, There is evidence that China and Iran have participated in such malicious efforts.
What shouldn’t be yet known
Despite the investments by countries like Russia in hard and soft power techniques, whether these strategies have been successful in influencing people's considering and behavior requires further investigation.
Measuring the tangible results of hard-soft power initiatives is difficult, especially in relation to social media. Nevertheless, our study and other research suggests that decentralized social media platforms could also be less effective for foreign influence operations than more traditional media platforms.
What happens next?
Our research team plans to review the phenomenon of hard soft power within the context of other countries. In addition, we plan to make use of focus groups and experimental studies to look at in depth the patterns of hard soft power use and its impact on people within the goal countries.
image credit : theconversation.com