The place of diaspora in public diplomacy - Rossotrudnichestvo and the Russian compatriots.

Abstract: In the globalized world, the distribution of power is spread among different types of actors, including non-states. Diasporas in that respect possess an ability to gain actorness. Especially in the frames of ‘soft power’ since the sources of that power is tight to attractiveness. The notion of ‘soft power’ has gained attention from the states globally, and Russia is not left aside. It is activated by the Russian state to pursue its foreign policy goals, especially in the EU states, due to the difficult diplomatic relations as an outcome of the Crimean crisis. Public diplomacy, as a tool of soft power, refers to the communicational process with the foreign public, and the ground resource of it is civil society. The paradox is situated in the target of the Russian state, its diaspora. Rossotrudnichestvo, the main player in the Russian public diplomacy, carries direct responsibilities over compatriot policies. This thesis contributes to an understanding of the aim of Russian public diplomacy towards diaspora. This study utilizes the theoretical frames of ‘soft power’, its tool ‘public diplomacy’, and conjunction with the ‘diaspora’. For the purpose of this study, the Russian interest towards its compatriots is traced through its cultural institution in Brussels (the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo). The thesis concludes firstly that the aim of Russian public diplomacy is not to construct an attractive image in the eyes of the public abroad but to secure itself. Through the prism of neo-functionalism, Russia identifies national security as a focal point in the construction of foreign policies, which cause institutionalization of its diaspora. Secondly, the research reveals the double behavior of Russia with civil society. While internally, it distances the civil sector from the engagement with the public diplomacy activities, externally, it is actively institutionalizing ‘the insiders of the foreign public’ through the diasporic organizations.