"Soft power", "color revolution" and "hybrid war": public diplomacy vs political technology

Abstract

"Color revolutions" are a form of "hybrid war" unleashed by the global hegemon against uncontrolled states in order to maintain its dominance in the world. Today they are becoming the main destabilizing factor both for a single nation and for the system of international relations as a whole. A comparative analysis of the "color revolutions" since the collapse of the USSR allows us to conclude that the theses spread by Western propaganda about the positive impact of the "soft power" on the "progress of democracy" are unfounded. Despite the presence of real socio-economic diffi culties and the so-called "protest potential” in the impacted countries "color revolutions" are primarily staged and controlled from abroad. As a rule, the main object of infl uence in the preparation of "color revolutions" are traditional family values, historical memory and the country's top political leadership as a guarantor of national sovereignty. The key actors of color revolutions are foreign-funded NGOs and the media which broadcast values and meanings alien to national self-consciousness into the information space and also “heat up” protest relations in the society. The point of application to seize control within the "color revolution" is the election of the country's national leadership or referendums on socially signifi cant issues. Accordingly, the most crucial task of sovereign states is to protect the electoral process from external interference, the spread of false information about elections and their discredit. An important factor in protecting the electoral rights of citizens and legitimizing state power is public observation of voting. Tools and resources of “soft power” are underestimated and poorly used by the post-Soviet states to defend national interests, protect the sovereign choice of the people and counteract attempts of external interference into domestic political processes. Promising directions for expanding infl uence on international relations are concentrated in the information, communication and political fi eld of the Internet which is still a territory of relative legal “freedom”. Among the main areas of protection "information sovereignty" are the following: expansion of Russian jurisdiction to representative offi ces of foreign IT platforms operating within the Russian Federation, development of media literacy and critical thinking of citizens, the need for constant refutation of "fakes", introduction of special programs that can recognize them and determine their distributors, prohibition of anonymity in social media, increasing legal liability for the production and distribution of "fakes".