In International Relations, identity politics is often characterized as an inherently exclusionary type of discourse that pits a national Self against a threatening Other. Indeed, politicians have long attempted to consolidate their domestic popularity or to justify their foreign policy initiatives through opposition to external threats, whether real or constructed. As scholars have highlighted, media […]
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What is soft power? And how is it used by Russia, China and Iran? Watch videos of Ilya Yablokov, Kingsley Edney and Edward Wastnidge discussing these questions
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The media should be studied not only as a tool of political or commercial groups, but also as a reflection of national values, myths, and stereotypes. Andrei P. Tsygankov considers perceptions of Russia as a neo-Soviet autocracy.
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Instead of analysing the (in)effectiveness of Russian soft power in world politics and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), it is important to look at the reasons behind Russian elites’ interest in soft power and how this interest has played out in Russia’s articulation and projection of soft power in the West.
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Russia has claimed a special strategic interest in Ukraine, but how do Ukrainians feel about that? This
article in the
special issue on the ‘Soft Power of Hard States’ explores the reaction of the Ukrainian audience to Moscow’s efforts to exercise cultural leadership in the region.
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Both Beijing and Moscow have endorsed soft power but their understanding and adaptation of the concept differs significantly from that of the West.
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Is Russia's soft power strategy the same as that of other major international players? Alexander Sergunin and Leonid Karabeshkin explore this in their recent
Politics article.
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Economic performance is of particular relevance to authoritarian regimes because satisfactory economic outcomes give the regime room to maneuver in immediate difficulties and keep them resilient under the pressure of political reform. Political leaders in Kazakhstan, Russia, Venezuela, Vietnam, and other authoritarian countries universally prioritize economic development as a national strategy. As an authoritarian nation […]
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As governments, journalists and experts offer up solutions to address propaganda wars and disinformation online, many of the solutions they put forward rest on the public’s acceptance and understanding as well as willingness to learn new information-seeking and verification tactics online. Amid the high stakes of a global pandemic, global health rests on the public’s […]
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For many, Donald Trump has pursued a ‘presidency by Twitter’, using the social media platform to set out his views and policy positions on a variety of issues. Jonny Hall looks at how Trump’s Twitter rhetoric has affected US overseas counterterrorism campaigns. He finds that Trump’s words – including his pivot from talking about terrorists […]
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