Abstract
The end of the Cold War heralded a new era as Western soft power was at its zenith in Eastern Europe and regional states accepted and institutionalized a new EuroAmerican ethos. In contrast, Russian soft power was at its lowest point as the Soviet Union imploded, leaving fi fteen newly independent states. While Russia was still the most powerful nation in the region, it lacked competence to deploy soft power and was unable to culturally infl uence its neighbors. Russia had to regain its footing and sought to redefi ne its own national identity prior to being able to build and project its soft power. Thus, Russia turned inward to nineteenth century works in philosophy and literature while Western soft power and expansionism continued to draw closer to Russia’s borders. As Moscow regrouped, it created institutions to spread its message both regionally and globally and expanded its communication prowess. Russia realized that while its national identity might be grounded within its Slavic roots and Russian exceptionalism, the only way it could effectively counter Western soft power was to point out the hypocrisy of American and European governmental policies. Rather than generating a positive projection of cultural and political attractiveness, Russia fought the spread Euro-American soft power by directly challenging it and showed that the Western political ethos ultimately was selfcontradictory and also worked to destroy traditional values.
Highlights
While the suddenness of the dissolution of the Soviet Union took many Western policy makers by surprise, they were quick to tout the triumph of Western ideology over communism
Russia realized that while its national identity might be grounded within its Slavic roots and Russian exceptionalism, the only way it could effectively counter Western soft power was to point out the hypocrisy of American and European governmental policies
It is clear that the dissolution of the Soviet Union further proved that Western soft power was at its zenith, while Russian soft power was at a nadir
Summary
The question of identity is fundamental to Russian soft power. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia found itself in a unique situation of having to redefine its national identity.[6]. Policy makers rediscovered the philosophy of Ivan Ilyin, a Russian monarchist who studied the reasons the Russian Revolution occurred He believed that the Revolution occurred in large part due to the loss of self-respect among Russians following World War I. Ilyin’s philosophy was quickly adopted by Russian policy makers, especially under Putin, who argued that Western democracy would not work for Moscow because Russia was unique and needed a strong leader to guide its reemergence as a strong state. As Moscow’s place as a great power fell following the collapse of the Soviet Union, many policy makers pointed to its loss of face and respect, which in turn led to more turmoil in Russia. We turn to the various cultural aspects that are included in contemporary Russian soft power
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