«SOFT POWER» IN THE WORLD COMMUNITY AND RUSSIA'S FOREIGN POLICY

Abstract

Introduction. The problem of “soft power” in international relations and its role in Russia’s foreign policy seems a topical research direction, considering its insufficient scientific analysis due to the prevailing general attitude to the issue of “soft power” in Russian political discourse, where the researched phenomenon is not considered a full-fledged direction of foreign policy and was created on the wave of the “soft power” popularity in the world community. The need to research the use of “soft power” is caused by the ongoing changes in the international relations and global politics that emerged as a result of globalization processes, information and technology sectors development. In the context of the emergence of new actors and rapidly changing rules of playing on the international stage, it is important for countries to adapt quickly to these rules and make full use of new tools. However, due to certain reasons, Russia paid attention to the resources of using “soft power” with a delay, but in order to achieve the world leaders’ level in this area, renewed approach is needed, taking into account the domestic specifics and leading global practices. The research is aimed at studying the features of the “soft power” concept. Materials and methods . Realization of the research tasks was achieved on the basis of studying theoretical foreign and domestic concepts of “soft power”, analyzing the ratings of the countries’ brands. The methodological basis includes the method of system-structural analysis, the statistical method. Results . The article considers the main approaches to understanding “soft power” presented in papers of foreign and domestic researchers; analysis of the main components and sources of the “soft power” policy; countries’ brand rating as a measurement tool of “soft power”; concepts of using “soft power” of Russia. Discussions and conclusion . Based on statistical data and data secondary analysis, the article comes to the conclusion that Russia lacks “soft power”; that grounds exist to create a new image of Russia on the world stage, corresponding to Russian national interests and contemporary realities. In today’s conditions, implementation of Russian “soft power” has many problems related to law, financial and economic aspects.