Chinese And Russian Public Diplomacy:Culture And Soft Power

Currently International Relations as a theoretical field are undergoing a significant transformation, which is largely connected with the new trends and challenges in world politics and international life, such as globalization, terrorism, regional conflicts etc. Therefore public diplomacy has started to receive a greater attention not only from researchers but also from policy-makers as one of the most effective soft-power instruments, able to help states gain power using peaceful methods.Nevertheless, despite the growing significance of Public Diplomacy in contemporary International relations, scholars have not yet pursued and promoted systematic theoretical research in the role of culture as its essential part, which according to a quote of R.S. Zaharna from the USC Center for Public Diplomacy "intersects at nearly every juncture of public diplomacy, from vision, to policy, to practice."What is worth, a significant number of countries are gradually loosing the touch with their culture, rapidly becoming a part of a globalized world. But, as the events of11th September2001have shown cultural self-awareness, as well as a deep understanding of cultural specifics of others is crucial for surviving of any nation or a state. If earlier culture was generally attributed as a source of differences that provoked conflicts, now it should largely be seen as an effective tool for understanding the ways of peaceful settlement.Language, image of a country, information created and flowing inside of a state, its heritage, education system and various cultural institutions represent the elements of culture that are taken into consideration while shaping the bases of public diplomacy. These elements are highly interconnected and should be viewed as a whole; they define the individual "face" of any country and differ it from the other.Traditional American trend of underscoring the role of culture in public diplomacy no longer meets the demand of the current reality. This led to the development of the alternative non-Western perspectives based on admitting cultural differences and taking into consideration the intellectual heritages found around the world. Chinese and Russian approaches to the cultural dimension of public diplomacy represent this alternative which can undoubtedly be viewed as promising because both Russia and China have more than once proved that respecting cultural differences plays a positive role in promoting national interests. That is why these countries recognize the role of culture at the highest level of authority.Nevertheless Chinese and Russian public-diplomacy paradigms were established under different circumstances; they also apply different mechanisms of promoting an image of a country on the international arena and have a different extent of flexibility.While China formulated its public-diplomacy principals in terms of a rapid economic growth and political stability, Russia has suffered the most severe in its history overall crisis that did not let public diplomacy get a proper attention until the beginning of the new millennia. Core principals, of Chinese public diplomacy based on the soft-power concept, correspond to its goal of becoming a significant international player in a harmonious world where countries don’t interfere into the matters of others. Russia’s public diplomacy also intends to create a new positive image of a country, though Russia has always declared its intention to influence others through hard power.State public-diplomacy actors are largely similar in the countries under study and they conduct the official public diplomacy course but China’s state system of public diplomacy seems to be more structured and thus more effective than Russia’s in terms of its interconnection with domestic and foreign publics.Non-state actors of public diplomacy in Russia and China should receive more attention because they largely shape the cultural realm of public diplomacy and even act as its instruments. Thus, Confucius Institutes as a major international Chinese linguistic institution not only meet the demands of foreign Chinese learners but also contributes to the development of multiculturalism and the building of a harmonious world. At the same time Russian-national Slavic Universities that exist in former Soviet countries offer higher education according to Russian standards thus creating specialists that can promote Russian interests in their countries in future.International students that come to Russia and China assist not only educational, cultural and scientific exchange, but also strengthen political, economic and diplomatic relations of these countries. But in case of China any foreign students show interest in its culture, philosophy and language as the fields of study, while similar disciplines in Russia do not see as attractive to foreigners. This leads to a conclusion that Russia isn’t doing enough to promote its culture abroad.Both countries effectively use their opportunities of hosting large-scale international events to apply their cultural instruments of public diplomacy. Both Russia and China performed as good hosts for Olympic Games. While demonstrating their hospitability and a responsible approach to fulfilling their promises Russia and China impounded the events with the elements of their cultures making the overall unprecedented for their time.Speaking about mass-media as a source of public diplomacy in Russia and in China we can conclude that its role and capabilities are not equally treated in these countries. During the same twenty and some years (1990s-2010s) Russia and China were implementing mass-media’s opportunities in a different way. While Russia concentrated more on promoting Russian-language media mainly in post-Soviet countries, China concentrated on go-global approach, establishing English-language media outlets thus reaching out not only to Chinese overseas communities but also to foreign audiences. Being more state-controlled than in Russia, Chinese media seems a lot more effective in promoting Chinese culture and creating a positive image of this country abroad.Major media-magnates that represent Russia and China in global media realm are Russia Today and CCTV respectfully. RT was established only in2005while CCTV’s history traces back to1958. Both outlets operate numerous web-sites which gives them an opportunity to reach wider audiences in all parts of the world. Nevertheless, CCTV’s staff is more professional, CCTV’s foreign bureaus outnumber RT’s, CCTV’s technical support is stronger. But what is more significant the range of programs broadcasted by CCTV is much more diversified. This becomes especially vivid when we examine the cultural content of the programs. The feature programs not only outnumber the news programs, but their coverage is largely of China itself, in contrast to the news programs, which try to expand its coverage of world affairs. Promoting the Chinese culture is an effective attempt to display this country as an emerging soft power. RT, on the contrary, does not provide considerable information about traditional Russian culture, which can be interesting to foreign viewers, eager to take a closer look at Russia. Therefore, cultural dimension of public diplomacy still remains a largely underexplored field of study which contains a whole range of interconnected elements. China and Russia are only beginning to explore their abilities to use soft-power instruments while promoting their national interests on the international arena. At the same time, China is far ahead in terms of understanding the value of its unique culture and in implementing its sources to the country’s public diplomacy strategies. Russia is gradually moving forward, but it still has to rethink its priorities-whether to forcefully impose its interests to its closest neighbors or to reach out to the whole world in a peaceful attempt to build a harmonious world.