”Soft Power“of Russia as a Condition for the Success of the Eurasian Integration Cover Image

„Мека моћ“ Pусије - услов њеног геополитичког успона
”Soft Power“of Russia as a Condition for the Success of the Eurasian Integration

Author(s): Miroslav B. Mladenović, Jelena G. Ponomareva
Subject(s): Education, Media studies, Civil Society, International relations/trade, Comparative politics, Geopolitics
Published by: Институт за политичке студије
Keywords: Eurasian integration; “soft power”; Russia; traditional and new media; educational programs; network resources;

Summary/Abstract: Eurasian integration is one of the priorities of the development of modern Russia. At the same time, it is also a key for building effective regional system. However, political will and clear commitment of the majority of population in the countries of the region is clearly not enough. Necessary condition for successful implementation of the Eurasian integration project is use of the soft power as a comprehensive resource that allows relying on the institutions of civil society, information and communication, educational and other humanitarian instruments to promote ideas of creating profitable for all the participants’ integration system and environment. The article studies various tools of “soft power” of Russia in the Eurasian space with a focus on the role of information and educational programs. The authors believe that Russia underutilized capacities of soft power in international relations. The country has enough capacity to become a significant international factor as evidenced not only economic and human resources, but also the long-term historical experience. Although the geopolitical role of Russia in the last century radically changed several times along with the entire “architecture” of the world, it is a country which is, no doubt, was the subject of the respective international relations. Place of Russia in the world system is unstable, but never meant to go to the periphery of world politics. The analysis carried out in the article shows that so far, Russia has significantly fallen behind other regional and global players, particularly the US, EU and China, in the use of “soft power” tools. According to the analysis, the authors put forward a number of proposals to form a complex approach to using information, educational and cultural programs. For a new march towards a world top, Russia needs serious and comprehensive application of instruments of “soft power”.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 11-29
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Serbian