Russian soft power from USSR to Putin’s Russia

Soft power is about forming the preferences of other actors on the international scene so that they want what the dominant actor wants. The essential aspect is related to the culture of the country, its language, arts, science and educational systems, as well as the attractiveness of its socio-economic model as a whole. The instrumental aspect of soft power comprises the institutions through which the essential aspect can be manifested – various governmental and non-governmental organizations and charitable foundations, including the media, cultural, scientific and educational institutions, etc. In Russian discourse the term ‘soft power’ was first mentioned in an interview given by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the problems of interaction with foreign Russian-speaking communities in Rossiyskaya Gazeta in 2008. The most important for promoting the image of Russia is its classical culture, developed during the Russian Empire, especially in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.