Conservative soft power: liberal soft power bias and the ‘hidden’ attraction of Russia

• Published in: Journal of international relations and development Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 1 - 27
• Main Authors: Keating, Vincent Charles, Kaczmarska, Katarzyna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.03.2019; Palgrave Macmillan
• Subjects: Area Studies; Bias; Conservatism; Development Studies; Foreign policy; Governance; Influence; Intellectuals; International Relations; Liberalism; Political Science and International Relations; Political Science and International Studies; Postcommunist societies; Soft power; Spheres of influence; Values; Russia; liberalism; soft power; russia; conservatism

The study of soft power in international relations suffers from a liberal democratic bias. Throughout the literature, liberal concepts and values are assumed to be universal in their appeal. This bias has led scholars to underestimate Russian soft power by instrumentalising it, that is, to see it pu...