How Russia Projects Soft Power Across Three Continents — Vladimir Liparteliani

How does a country under heavy sanctions continue to win influence across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia? In this episode, Vladimir Liparteliani unpacks the full machinery of Russian soft power — from RT and Sputnik to educational diplomacy, cultural outreach, and religious projection.Vladimir Liparteliani is an associate fellow at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Durham University. As a scholar of international relations, he focuses on soft power and international power competition in the post-Soviet space.Selected PublicationsSoft Power Competition Between Russia and the West: Contesting Georgian National Identity, 1991–2024The Art of Subtle Influence: Russian Soft Power and Georgia’s Conservative TurnChapters00:00 Introduction01:37 Conceptualising Russian Soft Power: Beyond Nye’s Classical Framework05:58 Russian Scholarly Perspectives on Soft Power07:10 Soft Power, Strategic Communication, and Influence Operations in Russian Foreign Policy08:42 Strategic Ambiguity: The ‘Blurriness’ of Russian Soft Power09:23 Great Power Identity and the Logic of Russian Soft Power11:53 Soviet Legacies and Their Influence on Contemporary Russian Soft Power14:21 International Broadcasting as Soft Power: RT and Sputnik18:22 Narratives and Messaging in RT and Sputnik Content20:52 Global Accessibility and Restrictions on RT and Sputnik23:02 Educational Diplomacy in Russian Foreign Policy26:22 Education as a Soft Power Instrument28:41 The Experience of International Students in Russia30:22 Cultural Diplomacy and the Projection of Russian Culture34:13 Global Reception and Participation in Russian Cultural Initiatives36:54 The Russian Orthodox Church and Religious Soft Power41:15 Narrative Effectiveness and Audience Reception in Russian Soft Power43:52 The Interaction of Soft and Hard Power in Russian Strategy46:49 Soft Power within Russia’s Military and Security Agenda49:09 Adapting Russian Soft Power to New Political Realities51:50 The Impact of Sanctions on Russian Soft Power Adaptation54:31 Opportunities and Constraints for Russian Soft Power in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia57:27 — Research Motivation: Studying Russian Soft PowerFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theirthinker/X: https://x.com/theirthinkerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theirthinker/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.