Why Russia’s Soft Power Softer Than During Soviet Era -By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

Russia’s soft power and cultural diplomacy, both considered as an instrument for attracting international community in getting connected to Moscow and to the entire Russian Federation, has faced hurdles and obstacles since the collapse of the Soviet empire. At a number of distinctive stages throughout its post-Soviet political and social developments, Russia keeps redefining and fine-tuning the nature of soft power, and struggling to maintain influence in the contemporary world.

The 21st century, with geopolitical rivalry and competition for influence in different regions, Russia has tried to shape perception, and to attract partnerships in the United States, Europe, former Soviet region, Asian countries, the Arab world and, of course across the African continent. And in this rapidly evolving landscape, the task of maintaining multifaceted influence may be characterised with obstacles, while it equally demands following or implementing well-designed strategic programmes, well-tailored to fit into a context, and importantly to keep its sustainability.

Speaking from his long-working experience as foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov expressed, during an annual meeting with estimated 150 leaders of Russian non-profit organisations held in April 2026, legitimate concerns over the practical performance on international landscape. Lavrov discussed several topics which included the development of public diplomacy, the preservation of historical memory, the promotion of the Russian language and culture. Particular attention was paid to the involvement of the non-governmental sector, as well as academic circles, in multilateral dialogues, alongside with creative arts, sports and youth dimension of public diplomacy.

As a customary during such meetings, Lavrov outlined general geopolitical developments as a background, then positioning Russia in that global context. In that assessment, he emphasized the turbulent circumstances, and mentioned that Russia, due to its history, geography, and civilisational identity, is playing a central role in gamut of these development processes.

For Lavrov, looking at Asian region, China ranks the first place. According to Lavrov, President Putin repeatedly underscored that the world had entered an era of unprecedented change. Similar assessments have been made publicly by President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping. As Chinese friends say, a crisis is interplay of danger and major opportunities. That’s the way of the world. Such periods have occurred many times in history. New developments are rising, containing the growth of new global centres and competitors in the World Majority countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The West’s decades-long expansion into the Eurasian continent, primarily the regions where Russia has historically had strong influence and legitimate traditional interests is another major factor of global destabilisation. The continuation of the Western conflict (which, it appears, is far from over) still has the most negative repercussions for the entire international community, for the economic situation of most of humanity, and for global security.

Russia’s priorities include promoting equal and mutually beneficial partnerships with all those willing to cooperate on an equal footing, based on the universally recognised principles of the UN Charter and international law in general, and on the search for a fair balance of interests in order to achieve the goals of domestic development and to strengthen its sovereignty.

Lavrov did an indepth analysis and comparisons. In a contrasting example as provided by US colleagues, who are promoting their national interests as they understand them, and they understand them as their dominance which is currently reflected in their policy of gaining control over almost the entire global spheres. On the one hand, this simplifies the situation. It becomes clear who is who. In this struggle for social justice, for the status and reputation of a country that conducts its affairs honestly, Russia intends to continue relying on public institutions and non-profit organisations, in making a sizable and useful contribution to the implementation of the foreign policy outlined by President Vladimir Putin.

Today’s geopolitical realities are such that public diplomacy is increasingly developing both in those countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America where it already existed, and in those countries where it has not traditionally played a role in foreign policy. Such trust-based dialogues, and maintaining a confidential atmosphere aim at strengthening mutual understanding and developing intercivilisational and intercultural interaction at the level of civil societies is highly useful. Its importance is growing given the present circumstances.

Lavrov strongly reiterated the unflinching commitment to a diverse and continued cooperation with non-profit organisations across all areas, which is supported by the Rossotrudnichestvo and the Russian Association for International Cooperation; these collectively established the Day of People’s Diplomacy in Russia on April 5. This undoubtedly becomes a new focal point for consolidating efforts in that direction, and for strengthening public diplomacy.

But then, there are also additional interpretations on how soft power should be pursued. Researchers and experts offered their opinions, this article’s author contacted them. For instance, Armen Khachatryan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Programme Director at the Roscongress Foundation, and member of the Public Council created under the Secretariat of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum, argues that, in any country, ordinary citizens make up the majority of the population, and for countries to collaborate effectively with one another, there needs to be an understanding of their perspectives and wishes. Therefore, it is necessary to establish direct ties and foster an environment conducive to regular dialogue with the people of various background, and it is vital to involve civil society more closely. These young and vibrant people could help foster a positive image of Russia in their respective countries.

In another conversation, Uliana Artamonova, a senior researcher at the Center for North American Studies, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, explained aspects of Russia’s contemporary public diplomacy. She categorizes the main forms of Russia’s public diplomacy as popularizing Russian culture, the promotion of Russian language and Russian higher education, the development of scientific and educational cooperation. The scale of spending on public diplomacy efforts is probably incomparable. The U.S. government spends millions of dollars on their public diplomacy, whereas Russian budget for such activities is quite modest, in terms of projecting ideas and influencing public opinions worldwide.

According to Artamonova, Russia’s public diplomacy has been built from the scratch after the collapse of Soviet Union. Unfortunately, public diplomacy institutes in the USSR were interconnected with other governmental structures, which in turn had a communist ideology deeply integrated within their every function. Since modern Russia in 1991 has abandoned the communist ideology as the official state ideology most governmental institutes were not modernized accordingly, but basically wept from existence into oblivion. The same fate befell Soviet system of public diplomacy. So, Russia has only started developing the system of public diplomacy institutes, methods and instruments in 2000s. Of course, compared to the public diplomacy of Soviet Union, Russia’s public diplomacy, still largely, lags in many aspects: scale, coordination, and consistency.

There is always a room for improvement when public diplomacy is concerned. Civil society representatives put forward a number of promising initiatives aimed at more closely involving NGOs in efforts to strengthen Russia’s role as an independent centre of global politics. They also called for closer cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in implementing international initiatives.

With simplistic approaches, Russia can perhaps succeed anywhere with its soft power. At the meeting with Lavrov, civil society representatives put forward a number of promising initiatives aimed at more closely involving NGOs in efforts to strengthen Russia’s role in global politics. They also called for closer cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in implementing international initiatives.

Undoubtedly, Russia has significant strengths: The key task is to translate these advantages into cutting-edge technologies that meet the highest contemporary standards. In this context, the President also said that leading in artificial intelligence will be a defining factor in global leadership. Accordingly, Russian diplomacy is expected to contribute to creating favourable conditions for achieving these strategic objectives outlined by President Vladimir Putin.

Despite the difficult circumstances, Russia will continue to pursue its foreign policy and to defend the vital national interests, creating the most favourable external environment for the country’s sustainable development as a multi-ethnic sovereign state, strengthening sovereignty in all areas. This is almost a verbatim quotation from the Foreign Policy Concept, which was updated and approved by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in 2023.