Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the Regions

As relations between the Russian Federation and the West continue to deteriorate, traditional diplomatic instruments become less eff ective. Conversely, the role of alternative diplomatic channels is growing. However, the Russian foreign policy still tends to underestimate their potential. In partic...

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Main Author: S. P. Arteev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Moscow University Press 2021-04-01
Series:Вестник Московского Университета. Серия XXV: Международные отношения и мировая политика
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Online Access:https://fmp.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/93
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author S. P. Arteev
author_facet S. P. Arteev
author_sort S. P. Arteev
collection DOAJ
description As relations between the Russian Federation and the West continue to deteriorate, traditional diplomatic instruments become less eff ective. Conversely, the role of alternative diplomatic channels is growing. However, the Russian foreign policy still tends to underestimate their potential. In particular, the soft power potential of the Russian regions appears to be largerly under-utilized. The paper starts with a general overview of the specifi c features of sub-state/sub-national actors in the world politics. In particular, the author emphasizes that these actors are synthetic by nature, which predetermines their particular role on the international scene, as they can use policy instruments specifi c to both state and non-state actors. The author provides a model for classifi cation of the Russian regions based on the level of their international activity. The paper examines by what means the international activities of the regions can infl uence the interstate relations and outlines two basic frameworks for joint actions of the federal center and the regions on the international arena: ‘culture and image-building’ and ‘political plus’. The author emphasizes the importance of the federal-regional cooperation in addressing foreign policy issues, particularly, in response to international crises. The paper assesses the capacity of diff erent Russian sub-national actors to actively participate through their soft power potential in normalization of interstate relations. The author concludes that this potential could be successfully integrated into the Russian foreign policy strategy. However, in order to improve the quality of the federal-regional cooperation on the foreign policy issues, it is necessary to develop a new framework for interaction between the federal center and the regions of the Russian Federation, based on greater involvement of regional representatives in the decision-making process (which implies reassessment of the entire system of federal relations).
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spelling doaj-art-1049de35045847dc8a9e28057c278edf2025-02-02T11:10:31ZengMoscow University PressВестник Московского Университета. Серия XXV: Международные отношения и мировая политика2076-74042021-04-01131325710.48015/2076-7404-2021-13-1-32-5792Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the RegionsS. P. Arteev0Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University); Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of SciencesAs relations between the Russian Federation and the West continue to deteriorate, traditional diplomatic instruments become less eff ective. Conversely, the role of alternative diplomatic channels is growing. However, the Russian foreign policy still tends to underestimate their potential. In particular, the soft power potential of the Russian regions appears to be largerly under-utilized. The paper starts with a general overview of the specifi c features of sub-state/sub-national actors in the world politics. In particular, the author emphasizes that these actors are synthetic by nature, which predetermines their particular role on the international scene, as they can use policy instruments specifi c to both state and non-state actors. The author provides a model for classifi cation of the Russian regions based on the level of their international activity. The paper examines by what means the international activities of the regions can infl uence the interstate relations and outlines two basic frameworks for joint actions of the federal center and the regions on the international arena: ‘culture and image-building’ and ‘political plus’. The author emphasizes the importance of the federal-regional cooperation in addressing foreign policy issues, particularly, in response to international crises. The paper assesses the capacity of diff erent Russian sub-national actors to actively participate through their soft power potential in normalization of interstate relations. The author concludes that this potential could be successfully integrated into the Russian foreign policy strategy. However, in order to improve the quality of the federal-regional cooperation on the foreign policy issues, it is necessary to develop a new framework for interaction between the federal center and the regions of the Russian Federation, based on greater involvement of regional representatives in the decision-making process (which implies reassessment of the entire system of federal relations).https://fmp.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/93sub-state actorssub-national actorssoft powerintrastate regionsforeign policy of russiafederalismparadiplomacyforeign relations of regions
spellingShingle S. P. Arteev
Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the Regions
Вестник Московского Университета. Серия XXV: Международные отношения и мировая политика
sub-state actors
sub-national actors
soft power
intrastate regions
foreign policy of russia
federalism
paradiplomacy
foreign relations of regions
title Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the Regions
title_full Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the Regions
title_fullStr Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the Regions
title_full_unstemmed Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the Regions
title_short Foreign Policy of Russia: ‘Soft Power’ of the Regions
title_sort foreign policy of russia soft power of the regions
topic sub-state actors
sub-national actors
soft power
intrastate regions
foreign policy of russia
federalism
paradiplomacy
foreign relations of regions
url https://fmp.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/93
work_keys_str_mv AT sparteev foreignpolicyofrussiasoftpoweroftheregions