America’s historical quest for freedom and democracy has been all but stamped out under the Obama administration in its quest to weaken American power, hard or soft. During Soviet times, Radio Free Europe and other Western media outlets did a good job of telling the world [...] We need to restore this vision and capability with similar, modern media efforts around the globe to tell the American story.

Call it “cultural diplomacy” or “soft power,” the blockbuster show was just one half of the major Russian cultural initiatives that debuted in Paris during the week, seeking to burnish Moscow’s reputation abroad as a year dedicated to “cultural tourism” has been overshadowed by political disputes.

Over the past two decades, Russia's efforts to regain its Soviet-era influence in Africa have achieved little success because "times have changed significantly, for example, a new economic and political environment, new emerging challenges, new competitive conditions and new bases for cooperation," according to Nataliya Zaiser, a Public Policy Advisor at Squire Patton Boggs Moscow office. 

Past responses of the U.S. government to these frozen conflicts have centered on non-recognition policy, foreign aid, people-to-people diplomacy, establishment of international forums and sanctions. In the framework of its policy of "engagement without recognition" in Georgia's and Azerbaijan's separatist territories, Washington has pursued public diplomacy and people-to-people initiatives to counter their isolation. 

Anticipating criticism about including a country like Russia in the top-30, the report’s authors claimed that Moscow’s role in combatting ISIS – as well as the fact that it didn’t advance its position any further into Ukraine – appeared to help international perception. “Russia performed markedly better on the international polling in 2016, compared with 2015,” the report’s authors noted.

Surprisingly, some of these leaders, particularly in Russia and China, have been wielding a sophisticated and deceptive soft power beyond their borders that is proving more enduring and effective than in the past. Their tactics are asymmetrical and subversive, using deception and disinformation, not easily confronted.

Russia summit dedicated to the 20th anniversary of establishing relations of dialog partnership between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Moscow will help to define new goals of bilateral cooperation in the future, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen said in an exclusive interview with TASS.

Despite the political dissimilarities between the UK and Russia, both the countries are now coming together to ensure a meaningful cultural relationship between them, by jointly celebrating their literary works. The British Council in Russia, which leads the UK's Year of Language and Literature 2016, have been discussing the influence of Shakespeare's works on the global culture, including that of Russia.