Much has been said in academic and policy circles in recent years about Russian activity to restore its soft power in the neighbouring countries. Less analysed, however, is the degree to which the messages communicated have succeeded in attracting target audiences, and thereby generate the soft leverage that is so favourable to achieving foreign policy goals. This paper will share some of the initial findings of a post-doctoral research project which specifically aims to explore the audience reception aspect of soft power. It will offer some early insights into how Russia is perceived with regard to its cultural, value, foreign policy and socio-economic offerings.
This study focuses on the views of the future generation of leaders, namely higher education students hailing from three case studies countries: Estonia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Striving to capture the diversity of opinion in each of these countries (themselves quite distinct from one another in many respects), research was conducted in three or four cities in each. A mixed methods approach was taken, with both quantitative surveys and focus groups employed conducted in autumn/winter 2021.
The results should provide some indication of how far Russia endeavours to cultivate attraction among the young generation are bearing fruit.
