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Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Author : O. Lebedeva
Candidate of Science (Sociology)
THE START of the 21st century can with good reason be considered
a landmark in the development of Russian public diplomacy. After the
difficult and unpredictable 1990s, the Russian leadership began to pay
serious attention to creating a positive international image for Russia.
Building such an image, informing foreign audiences and Russians about
the country's foreign policy, and establishing close contacts with citizens
and elites in foreign countries have been the main areas of activity in
Russian public diplomacy.
Rossotrudnichestvo is the main instrument of soft power through which
Russia seeks to achieve a positive international image for itself. Building
closer ties with Russian-speaking communities abroad is one of the
agency's priorities. Work that is done by Rossotrudnichestvo in tackling it includes intensive collab-
oration with the Russian Foreign Ministry in organizing the World Congress of Compatriots Living
Abroad, an event held in Russia at least once in three years. Rossotrudnichestvo has taken on the
organization of the regular workshop at the congress that is entitled "Contribution of Compatriots
to the Preservation of the Russian-Speaking Space, Education and the Russian Language in Their
Countries of Residence."
Outside Russia, enrollment of foreign citizens in Russian educational institutions is mainly carried
out through Russian centers for science and culture that are administered by Rossotrudnichestvo.
In addition, regional offices of Rossotrudnichestvo regularly provide information about Russian
universities via educational exhibitions such as the International Education Fair and Education and
Career. Such exhibitions bring together not only leading Russian institutions but also smaller regional
universities, thereby offering potential entrants a variety of schools to choose from.
Support for the Russian government's policy toward Russian-speaking communities abroad is a sep-
arate field of Russian public diplomacy.
To sum up, Russian public diplomacy has undergone essential changes since the beginning of the
21st century. In these 16 years, public diplomacy has been put on a solid legal basis, and a series of
amendments has been introduced to adjust it to global changes and to revisions of Russia's foreign
policy strategy. Public diplomacy activities have included some large-scale projects in this period.
To pursue successful public diplomacy, Russia should continue to work along the routes that it has
chosen, using a comprehensive and systemic approach and ensuring efficient coordination among
its government, NGOs and businesses. Today, quite many agencies and organizations are involved
in public diplomacy, but there still is no one-hundred-percent coordination among them.
Public Diplomacy as a Priority Task for Diplomatic Missions