At present, one of Russia’s most important tasks is to define and create its “competitive identity” and make the country’s image in the global information space attractive, unique, recognizable and highly effective (Simons, 2013). This is now possible because Russia has reformulated its self-image after the end of the Soviet Union. However, as Russia has discovered in the various attempts to reshape her international image and reputation, it is very difficult to try and rebrand a country that has a high international profile and possesses a strong existing brand (Simons, 2011). Developing a successful state image strategy requires high-level cooperation in all spheres: political, economic, sports, cultural, humanitarian and educational. Weaknesses in Russia’s state image strategy have emerged during its participation in the information war of 2013–2018. Russia is striving to use modern Information Age tools to manage and promote its international image. Similar efforts have also been undertaken by other nations (e.g., the “re-Islamization” of the Middle East or India’s “Hinduization”).
The national branding of Russia is a set of measures aimed at creating an attractive image of the country in the world. State and non-governmental organizations (NGOs ) help mold the country’s image in a variety of areas including economic, cultural, scientific, media and humanitarian (Simons, 2018). At the same time, Russian state policy has a serious impact on the country’s reputation, which arguably is the most valuable asset in an information society. It should also be noted that national branding can be used to inform the public about a country’s attributes, such as its quality of life and successful development.
Institutions of Public Diplomacy and Branding
Our analysis of the Russian Federation’s national brand uses British expert Simon Anholt’s global national brand methodology. According to this methodology, national brands are evaluated on the following six parameters: export, management, culture and cultural heritage, people, tourism and investment and migration. Recently, Russia has been giving more attention to the nation-branding dimension of public diplomacy as a way to exert cultural and humanitarian influence. As such, it supplements Russia’s national foreign policy.
Russia’s socio-political sphere has changed dramatically since 1990s. Most Russians now believe traditional values and national pride are being restored after years of oppression and humiliation (Suslov, 2016). This newly acquired sense of dignity has contributed to the emergence of a new generation of activism (e.g., NGOs) focused on protecting Russia’s global interests. A recent survey found that more than 60% of Russians believe that the perceived distortion of Russia’s role in defeating fascism is more painful than the imposition of economic sanctions by the United States and other Western powers.1
It is not a coincidence that the patriarch of US foreign policy, Henry Kissinger, said in a recent interview that “it is not possible to bring Russia into the international system by conversion. It requires deal-making, but also understanding. It is a unique and complicated society. Russia must be dealt with by closing its military options but in a way that affords it dignity in terms of its own history”.2
As part of this trend, a number of active and highly professional NGOs oriented to foreign policy have emerged to spearhead the efforts in the field of public diplomacy. Notable examples include the Russian Peace Foundation, The Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Foundation, Andrey Karlov Children’s Foundation, the Public Initiative “Creative Diplomacy” (PICREADI) at the Russian Public Council for International Cooperation and Public Diplomacy, the “International Diplomatic Forum” at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, NPO Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad (The Foundation’s founders are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Rossotrudnichestvo) and others. The federal agency Rossotrudnichestvo, a key national institution that defines guidelines and coordinates activities in the field of public diplomacy, has also intensified its activities abroad. In particular, Rossotrudnichestvo has expanded its international presence, increasing the number of representatives and Russian centers of science and culture abroad by one-third.3
While all nations’ public diplomacy efforts are basically similar, Russia has formulated and deployed its own particular techniques because of the current turbulent international environment. From the Russian perspective, an information war has been launched against the Russian Federation whose goals are to (1) distort and falsify history and (2) promote Russophobia in the international public consciousness by representing Russia and Russians as aggressors on the world stage (Doctrine of Information Security, 2016). An important distinctive feature of this trend is the strategy of compromising not only the Russian state and its leadership but also the Russian people as a whole. Russia’s depiction as a rogue state is reinforced by “fake news” media and the creation and distribution of memes with the theme that “There is no bad nation—only bad people. But the Russians are bad altogether”.4 This abovementioned situation creates a difficult environment for Russia to convey its own message to global publics.
The core of Russia’s public diplomacy’s narrative is principally evolving around the idea of the unity of the “Russian World”. As early as 2004, the current head of Rossotrudnichestvo (who took office in December 2017), former Permanent Representative of Russia to the UNESCO, E.V. Mitrofanova emphasized this concept: “Unifying the Russian diaspora reinforces and spiritually enriches both our compatriots who have settled abroad, for any number of historical, political or economic reasons, and the nations they have settled within”.5 Today, Russia offers the world a number of alternative paradigms. For example, Russia introduced the concept of global multi-polarity (“Unity in Diversity”) as a way to oppose the Western model of a monocentric world order. Within this framework, Russia’s identity positioning can be defined as conservative traditionalism and the right of every nation to defend its historically established values. This creates communication priorities within the frame of international communications and public diplomacy.
Having identified this task as a priority, Rossotrudnichestvo created a network of NGOs (expert advisory councils) in February 2018 to pursue its agenda. The expert advisory councils’ work corresponds to the provisions of the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation of 2016 (II paragraph 7, III paragraph 48). For example, the Expert Advisory Council for Public and Humanitarian Programs aims to assist Rossotrudnichestvo by fostering discussions about key humanitarian issues facing the international community. The Council sponsors carefully organized international events for specifically targeted foreign academic and expert groups featuring Russian experts in political science and cultural affairs.
Two other examples include the Valdai Discussion Club and the Russian Council for International Affairs. These organizations are the main actors in the field of Russian expert diplomacy. Both hold roundtables and discussions on various international issues with the participation of foreign experts, politicians and officials. Russian expert advisory councils also attend major international events at Russian foreign-oriented economic forums (e.g., the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok). The councils also interact with a variety of international organizations in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Eastern Europe, China (bilaterally), Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (the BRICS countries) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Programs and Approaches to Branding in a Hostile Information Environment
Today, Russian is spoken as a native language by 154 million people and the total worldwide Russian-speaking population is 280 million.6 One of Russia’s most important public diplomacy objectives is promoting and preserving the Russian language abroad under the framework of the federal target program “Russian Language” for 2016–2020. Rossotrudnichestvo, public NGOs and a host of academic institutions work to promote Russian-language learning globally. The global use of Russian differs by region. In Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, Russian-language interest has grown. However, there has been a decrease in Russian-speaking populations in regions formerly within the Soviet sphere of influence.
Reversing this trend is a priority of Russian foreign policy but is made more difficult by the concerted efforts of many governments and organizations to brand Russia as the “aggressor state”. Russia has responded by using the resources of public diplomacy to protect the desires of Russian-speaking populations to speak and learn the language of their ancestral homeland. Preserving and promoting Russian abroad requires active interaction with the Russian-speaking diaspora abroad. This is one of the objectives of public diplomacy. As Henry Kissinger noted in an interview with CBS News:
For him [Mr. Putin], the question of Russian identity is very crucial. Because as a result of the collapse of communism, Russia has lost about 300 years of its history. […] And so that the question of ‘What is Russia?’ looms very large in their mind. And that’s a problem we have never had.7
In addition to the physical and tangible effects of the Soviet collapse in 1991, Kissinger also implies the importance of intangible human emotions, together with the repercussions for the Russian national mentality and directions of foreign policy. The advent of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has created new divisions between natives of the Russian Federation and other neighboring nationalities. It is perceived by Russian officials that over the past 25 years a new generation in Russia and the CIS has been influenced by propaganda directed against Russia as part of the previously mentioned information war. The resulting Russophobia threatens to cast Russia as an “Evil Empire” or international outcast that should be strongly held in check.
Rossotrudnichestvo and Russian foreign policy NGOs are also conducting work aimed at countering the falsification of Russian history. Toward this end, a number of public programs started disseminating information internationally to combat stereotypes about Russian civilization and history. These efforts include introducing target audiences to key historical figures in Russian history, conducting historical and memorial events abroad coinciding with World War II jubilee dates and sponsoring international photo exhibitions (photo diplomacy). One result of these efforts is the inclusion of Russia in a variety of European cultural events.
The Inter-Ministerial Working Group on the Preservation of the Russian Historical and Cultural Heritage in the United States, through the website “Russian America: History, Culture, Diplomacy”, presents unique documents from the Ministry’s archive dedicated to Russian historical and cultural heritage in the United States.8
Strengthening and protecting historical and memorial sites dedicated to World War II is another important way of countering anti-Russian propaganda. A number of countries including Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Norway, the Baltic States and the Czech Republic have recently enacted regulations aimed at removing symbols of communism and occupation. However, such actions encroach on monuments to Soviet soldiers. Russian public diplomacy is forming a favorable image of Russia internationally. As stated by G.B. Karasin:
In an effort to build trust and goodwill among nations, cultural and humanitarian exchanges will become an even bigger part of Russia’s future public diplomacy agenda. Russia seeks to be an open, friendly country despite efforts to provoke conflict and isolate it by certain external forces.9
Russian NGOs and academic institutions are working intensively to monitor social and public attitudes toward Russia and to assess its cultural and national brands’ recognition. Russian cities have also been active in NGO public diplomacy as illustrated by the expansion of twin city initiatives. As of 2018, 161 Russian cities have twin city relationships with more than 1100 cities worldwide, with the International Association of “Pure Cities” (IMAPG) playing a large role in this effort.
In addition to such bilateral efforts, the entire Russian Federation regions are also cooperating with foreign regions to promote their distinctive cultures and traditions, so sub-state diplomacy is also part of Russian nation-branding efforts. The success of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students (2017) and the FIFA World Cup (2018) undoubtedly contributed to changing foreign attitudes about Russia.
There are indications that Russia has begun to use military power as a national-branding mechanism. According to foreign experts, President Putin’s March 2018 speech before the Federal Assembly was intended to highlight Russia’s new high-tech strategic and tactical weapons to an international audience. However, the use of “diplomacy of force” in the form of combined arms exercises and Russian combat operations in Syria do not contribute to Russia’s image as a peace-loving state.
Branding in Education and Research Diplomacy
In this regard, the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, E.V. Mitrofanova, particularly noted the strategic need to maximize efforts to work with young people. Maybe that’s the reason for Russian MFA promoting new public diplomacy (PD) youth-oriented formats, for example, a network of Eurasian, BRICS, European and the Young Diplomats forums. The First Global Forum of Young Diplomats was held in Sochi in 2017 as part of the World Festival of Youth and Students (visited by over 20,000 leaders from 180 countries). The event was the culmination of over four years of work by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Council of Young Diplomats, who held similar regional forums in which only young diplomats took part.10 In total, the final document of the global forum on the establishment of the International Association of Young Diplomats was supported by more than 60 states. According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation G.B. Karasin:
Based on the results of the 2017 World Festival of Youth and Students, we can say that we have achieved student unity around the values of friendship and justice.11
One of the most vital tasks of public diplomacy is to foster a new generation of partnerships in foreign countries based on mutual trust as well as to provide intellectual and expert support to Russian compatriots abroad through social and humanitarian communication and cooperation. Since 2015, Rossotrudnichestvo, together with the Ministry of Sports of Russia, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia and the All-Russian Federation of the School Sports, has been the co-organizer of the World Games of Young Compatriots. This event is one of the most ambitious and resonant yearly projects for the youth of the Russian-speaking diaspora abroad. The Games use sports and healthy lifestyles to help develop interaction among the Russian-speaking youth living abroad and increase their understanding of Russian culture.
Russia is also prioritizing outreach to ethnic Russians living in countries of the former Soviet Union (e.g., the Baltic States and Ukraine). Russia encourages the majority population in these countries to grant Russian-speaking minorities civil, social, economic, cultural and other rights and freedoms. The cultural and humanitarian direction of public diplomacy is realized through such cultural exchange mechanisms that promote Russian culture. Between 2011 and 2018 more than 20 reciprocal cross-cultural festivals were held with European, Asian and Latin American countries. Similar cultural events with Middle Eastern countries have also begun (e.g., Qatar in 2018 and Turkey in 2019).
One of the challenges of promoting the cultural and national traditions of Russia is that it does not have a clearly expressed brand as did the USSR. One reason is that ethnic performers tend to dilute their national flavor to suit the tastes of an international audience. In 2018 the Film Fund began assessing the international demand for Russia cinema. The Russian Federation is represented at international film festivals in Hong Kong, Cannes, London, Los Angeles, Toronto and others.
Russia also uses public diplomacy to promote the achievements of Russian education and science. Between 2015 and 2018, Russia’s rank improved from the seventh to the fifth place on the list of the most attractive European countries for training.12 This improvement can be illustrated by the fact that 187,000 people came to Russia for training in the first half of 2018 compared to merely 169,000 in all of 2017. Rossotrudnichestvo’s efforts have also resulted in a significant increase in the interest of foreigners to study in Russia. Rossotrudnichestvo launched the RUSSIA.STUDY project, which operates in 11 different languages, with the aim of attracting potential students to its universities. Russia provides annually 15,000 places for foreigners to study for free (this number is not so great, as far as only Romania annually gives Moldavia 5,000 fully covered scholarships). The agency also pays great attention to working with the alumni of Russian (Soviet) higher education institutions, the number of which exceeds 500,000.13 Education diplomacy is used by many countries around the globe to improve the image of their country by providing an interactive forum for the foreign student and the host country and can be an effective foundation for a lasting relationship (Lindsay, 1989).
In a speech before the Federal Assembly on March 1, 2018, the president of the Russian Federation spoke of the need to make it easier for talented foreign students and scholars to become Russian citizens.14 A vivid positive example of Russian nation branding in the sphere of science is the Primakov readings15 held annually by the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO) which is aimed at promoting cooperation between the leading international relations scholars and decision-makers. It is ranked by the Pennsylvania University Global think tank index16 among top ten world discussion platforms. Such initiatives contribute greatly toward Russia’s public diplomacy.
Since 2011, Rossotrudnichestvo has been responsible for bringing young people to Russia for short-term study programs in politics, public affairs, science and business. And, in 2014, the Government Commission on the Affairs of Compatriots Abroad (KKADR) launched the Program of Educational Travels to Russian Historic Sites (“Hello, Russia!”). Every year this program brings to Russia more than 700 young people from all over the world.17 Russia also promotes its achievements in the fields of science, technology and space research. Every April, workshops about Yuri Gagarin, the first human to go into space, are held in Western countries as are conferences devoted to Russian scientific achievements. Russia has risen from the 28th to the 13th place in the number of papers published in social science journals (both print and internet based). From 2015 to 2017, the number of Russian published works in the social sciences rose to 1.5%, outpacing even China in this metric.18 These efforts, for Russia to become more internationally competitive in the education and research sectors, seem to have born some initial tangible results.
Branding and Public Diplomacy for Economic and Financial Development
Changing trends in Russia’s image policy show that the emphasis in promoting a national brand is important for humanitarian development, such as improving the standard of living, quality of life, ecology, developing public health and education and cultural and sporting achievements. However, the image of modern Russia is extremely important to its economy, politics, trade, finance, science, culture, sports and education. This has become even more important in the Information Age, when information and communication have emerged as key assets to ensure a nation’s international leadership. The positive image of Russia and its reputation in domestic and foreign business circles are important factors in promoting the country’s national interests on the world stage.
The necessity for being internationally branded economy was realized in Russia in early 2000s. In 2006, the Russian government hired Ketchum Inc. to develop a proper Russian image and implement a business image strategy.19 After the first wave of investors occurred and an economic boom passed, the Russian government joined the competition for foreign capital and established in 2011 The Russian Direct Investment Fund, aimed at attracting equity investments. Russia’s accession to the WTO was followed closely by foreign businesses, as it was expected as a green light for Russia’s economic upgrade. Meanwhile, in 2013, Goldman Sachs signed three-year contract with the Russian government to help attract foreign institutional investors.20 In the result, according to Ernst and Young, in 2017, foreign investors put up capital in a record number of projects in Russia.21 As a result of the latest steps, Russia advanced to the 31st place in the global ease of doing business ranking, representing an improvement from the 35th place in the previous year and 40th place two years ago or 120th place seven years ago.22 Russia has developed several effective tools for nation branding in the economic dimension.23 Roscongress,24 founded in 2007 with the aim of contributing to develop Russia’s economic potential and strengthen the country’s image by organizing congresses and exhibitions with an economic and social focus, organizes regional forums established in order to work with local and foreign business circles. The best known are in Sochi, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok and Saint Petersburg. The main economic event annually held is St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF),25 attracting over 14,000 participants from 143 countries, representing government and business leaders, academic and media experts. Besides these forums, coordinated by Roscongress, another one—VTB Capital’s RUSSIA CALLING!26—also brings together policy-makers, investors and business figures to promote dialogue and encourages strategic investment into Russia’s economy.
Another positive step for promoting the image of Russia among foreign business circles was the establishment of the Russian Export Centre27 in 2011—it coordinates inter alia the activities of Russian trade representative offices abroad in supporting export projects. Some of Russia’s world-famous business schools are also shaping the country’s economic image. For example, Moscow School of Management, Skolkovo28 (which earns annually, by the way, only three times less than LSE), has established the Institute for Emerging Market Studies (SIEMS), shaping Russia’s business image in BRICS, developing and emerging countries. SPIEF, Russian Export Centre and the Skolkovo Business School are the best practice examples of nation branding, but in the current business climate governmental authorities and civil society should pay serious attention to re-attracting foreign investors. Besides, much should be done for developing strong recognizable brands: according to Brand Strength Index 2017 the strongest Russian brand which is Sberbank (with state participation) is worth US$11.6 billion, while the American private brand Amazon is worth US$109.5 billion.29
Discussion and Conclusion
Hosting major international events has certainly raised Russia’s standing in the world. However, the doping scandals that followed the 2014 Winter Olympics and the recent Ukrainian events forced the Russia’s leadership to change its image strategy. Russia needs to update its cultural myths: “Spirituality of Russia”, “Russia is the custodian of eternal universal values” and “Incredible Russia”. Russian strategy should be underpinned with vivid national charm, “Russian spirit” and should emphasize “unique and genuine Russianness”. To some extent, this shortfall was overcome at the World Cup (2018).
Russia should use marketing technologies, advertising and information campaigns to strengthen international perceptions of Russian’s achievements. Combining public diplomacy with marketing makes it possible for state policy to be sold as a product to a foreign audience. In other words, the government’s image is a national brand. Successful public diplomacy campaigns are not just the dissemination of some positive information about Russia in foreign media but, above all, the integration of influential politicians and government agencies into a brand management system that supports a unified, long-term national strategy.
Russian public diplomacy is institutionalized, which creates problems that must be solved as quickly as possible. Traditional bureaucracies are not equipped to deal with the pace of change in modern society—change largely driven by the development of information technology.
establish NGOs similar to The Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Foundation. These organizations will be tasked with improving the image of the country;
determine how to finance public diplomacy NGOs;
develop nation-branding strategies, set priorities and establish a nation-branding training system;
develop a special nation-branding program for border regions;
improve the nation-branding mechanism of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states such as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that occupy the top priority in Russian public diplomacy;
within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, Russia needs a strategy of public diplomacy which should then be disseminated widely. Economic integration without cultural, scientific, educational and sports cooperation will be short-lived. Culture, education and science will help cement the integration process because they are rooted more deeply in national identity and therefore less prone to change. Within the Eurasian Economic Union, Russia still maintains significant educational and scientific ties. Therefore, linkages and cooperation need not be developed from scratch. It will also be beneficial to develop a nation-branding strategy within the emerging international global organizations like BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa);
branding various Russian regions, using the twin cities initiatives and launching new tourism programs, could contribute a lot toward Russia being associated not only with “balalaika” and “vodka” but with Tomsk University, Karelian resort or Baikal omul. So, “out-of-the-box” thinking and a broad discussion on revealing key tasks, segmentation of the target audience and proposing a long-term branding strategy are of great necessity.
Despite certain structural and institutional shortcomings, efforts to overcome the alienation of foreign publics from Russia are succeeding because bilateral and multilateral international relations have become more systematic and focused. In the end, this success should create an environment of trust and mutually beneficial cooperation. In the digital age, Russia is trying to find the right solution for making Edmund Gullion’s “the last three feet” approach toward the foreign audience (seen as people who are or will be close to the decision-making and agenda-setting process) while branding itself as attractive, credible and open minded and conducting dialogue rather than monologue. It uses PD and humanitarian cooperation tools for succeeding. Still, it should strive to be a leader in technology, economy and knowledge.