In the post-Soviet age, Russia has relied on military muscle and energy dominance to help it achieve its foreign policy goals. Soft power, meanwhile, is something that has always been missing from Moscow’s diplomatic arsenal.

Cultural exchanges between China and Russia have reached an unprecedented height in recent years," said Yang Song, Europe and Asia division chief of the Liaison Office of the Ministry of Culture...."A series of intercultural events have greatly helped promote mutual understanding, and bring Chinese and Russians closer.

In keeping with IMEMO’s longstanding orientation toward economic analysis, “Outlook: 2030” draws heavily on hard economic data, including figures for GDP, labor productivity, R&D investment, currency reserves, population growth and other important metrics... Outlook” even embraces the terms “soft power” and “smart power” coined by Western experts during the past two decades.

Anti-Americanism is a long-standing and fundamental pillar of Russian foreign policy and public diplomacy. As noted by Heritage’s Ariel Cohen, “Anti-Americanism in Russia is rampant. Putin has relentlessly created an image of Russia under attack from Western enemies. It worked for the elections and is likely to continue as a pillar of Russia’s domestic and foreign policy.”

WASHINGTON --- America’s image abroad remains strong, retaining its post-Bush worldwide increase in 2009. But in new survey data released here this morning by Gallup, the U.S. has lost significant support in the past year in Africa and Latin America.

While for the U.S. ambassador to UAE, ethnic conflict appears to largely be rooted in a cultural misunderstanding, which the diplomat has been trying to dispel by arranging culture missions to the Middle East that would counter the image of the U.S. as a global soldier, for many recipients of American and other Western cultural packages, the answer is rather cultural disrespect.

“We consider cultural exchange to be a critical part of building ties between the United States and Russia,” McFaul told the CSO musicians Tuesday night at a reception and recital at Spaso House. “As far as I’m concerned, you are the real ambassadors. You are the ones making real connections with the people in Russia.”