Analysis Of The Russian Public Diplomacy

Public diplomacy refers to official government efforts toward foreign publics aims to reduce the degree of misperceptions and foster a positive national image. It is an important diplomatic phenomenon emerged with the development of globalization, information revolution and modernization. During the Cold War period, Soviet Union was the main subject of U.S. public diplomacy, and public diplomacy played a critical role in the process of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. As soon as the Cold War ended, the public diplomacy was regarded as the legacy of Cold War, whose importance was dramatically decreased. However, after the September 11 attacks, public diplomacy draws great attention from the U.S. government again.Since Clinton administration, the U.S.-Russia relations have weathered through ups and downs. With the spreading of anti-Americanism in Russia and the rise of Russia, there is an increased importance for U.S. to conduct public diplomacy toward Russia which aims to disseminate and explain U.S. foreign policies and improve its national image so as to win support for its policies from Russian government and citizens, and to promote the America-style democracy and freedom. However, there are several factors such as U.S. foreign policies, the lack of coordination among agencies and the lack of consistency of policies making and planning, and the strict control from the Russia government on NGOs and media, makes it hard to achieve its expected goals.