Russian soft power in the Baltic States through the lens of research: traditions, competition, confrontation

Abstract

In this article, we aim to analyse the research discourse in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) as regards Russian soft power, which is considered as hard power, and to compare the theses that dominate this discourse with the actual interactions between Russia and the three states in media, education, and culture. Each Baltic country has built a system of political and legal restrictions to diminish the effect of Russian soft power, which is considered in terms of hard power, i.e. as a threat to national security. The current forms of Russian soft power are becoming less productive in the region and their use in the negative political context of bilateral relations has the opposite effect for Russia – the country loses in reputation and image. The main factor at play is the information content of the Russian-language media space. At odds with the historical and political views of a significant part of the Baltic States’ ruling class, it is becoming the target of counteraction. At the same time, Russian high and mass culture and, partly, educational services are in demand from both Baltic Russian speakers and ethnic Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians. Our analysis shows that the views of Baltic researchers that Russian soft power is politics-driven and foreign to the region are exaggerated and biased. In its turn, Russian soft power in the Baltics retains the potential to aid the country’s foreign policy, being a complement to the latter rather than its direct tool.

Education as a soft power resource: A systematic review

“…On the contrary to above research studies, some authors [ 57 , [72] , [73] , [74] ] found that education does not contribute to build soft power when there are wide political and cultural differences between countries. For instance, by conducting research on Chinese international students studying in western countries, Bislev [ 57 ] analyzed that existing studies do reveal that educational exchange programmes can promote the creation of soft power under certain circumstances, but some of these conditions are problematic to meet in the case of Sino-Western educational partnership.…”

Examining Post-Cold War Geopolitical Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe: The Baltic States’ Path to EU and NATO Membership and the Evolving Dynamics of Relations with Russia

“…Parents were afforded the choice to enroll their children in either Russian or non-Russian schools, with Russian being a mandatory subject in the latter, while in Russian-language schools, the native languages of the Baltic peoples were offered as optional courses. This educational policy engendered significant discontent among the Baltic populace (Vorotnikov & Ivanova, 2019).…”

Susceptibility of the Estonian Russian-speaking Audience to the Spread of Fake News and Information Disorder in the News Media

“…The pro-Russian information is disseminated in Estonia and other EU countries by the Russian state and state-related media and even global media including international news agencies and domestic news media and is considered by Russia as form of its soft power (Vorotnikov & Ivanova, 2019 ;Wagnsson & Barzanje, 2019;Watanabe, 2017). According to the "Foreign Policy Conception of the Russian Federation" soft power "primarily includes the tools offered by civil society, as well as various methods and technologies -from information and communication to humanitarian methods and other types of technologies" (The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 2016 , II, 9).…”