# How Russia Projects Soft Power Across Three Continents — Vladimir Liparteliani

An episode of [The IR thinker](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1716817337), 21 Apr 2026, 1 h 01 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/655776911a7d7e0012cbc914/e/69e738d7d2febdbec9bdec40/media.mp3

How does a country under heavy sanctions continue to win influence across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia? In this episode, Vladimir Liparteliani unpacks the full machinery of Russian soft power — from RT and Sputnik to educational diplomacy, cultural outreach, and religious projection. Vladimir Liparteliani is an associate fellow at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Durham University. As a scholar of international relations, he focuses on soft power and international power competition in the post-Soviet space. Selected Publications • Soft Power Competition Between Russia and the West: Contesting Georgian National Identity, 1991–2024 • The Art of Subtle Influence: Russian Soft Power and Georgia’s Conservative Turn Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:37 Conceptualising Russian Soft Power: Beyond Nye’s Classical Framework 05:58 Russian Scholarly Perspectives on Soft Power 07:10 Soft Power, Strategic Communication, and Influence Operations in Russian Foreign Policy 08:42 Strategic Ambiguity: The ‘Blurriness’ of Russian Soft Power 09:23 Great Power Identity and the Logic of Russian Soft Power 11:53 Soviet Legacies and Their Influence on Contemporary Russian Soft Power 14:21 International Broadcasting as Soft Power: RT and Sputnik 18:22 Narratives and Messaging in RT and Sputnik Content 20:52 Global Accessibility and Restrictions on RT and Sputnik 23:02 Educational Diplomacy in Russian Foreign Policy 26:22 Education as a Soft Power Instrument 28:41 The Experience of International Students in Russia 30:22 Cultural Diplomacy and the Projection of Russian Culture 34:13 Global Reception and Participation in Russian Cultural Initiatives 36:54 The Russian Orthodox Church and Religious Soft Power 41:15 Narrative Effectiveness and Audience Reception in Russian Soft Power 43:52 The Interaction of Soft and Hard Power in Russian Strategy 46:49 Soft Power within Russia’s Military and Security Agenda 49:09 Adapting Russian Soft Power to New Political Realities 51:50 The Impact of Sanctions on Russian Soft Power Adaptation 54:31 Opportunities and Constraints for Russian Soft Power in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia 57:27 — Research Motivation: Studying Russian Soft Power Follow & Further Resources Substack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theirthinker/ X: https://x.com/theirthinker Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theirthinker/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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