Paul
Goble
Staunton, July 13 -- Stung by a
survey that shows Russia ranking 30th out of 30 countries with
soft-power programs, the Kremlin is considering reforming its existing
organizations charged with the projection of soft power and possibly creating a
new one alongside or in place of Rossotrudnichestvo, the RBC news agency
says.
That organization, the Federal
Agency for the Affairs of the CIS, Compatriots Abroad and International
Humanitarian Cooperation, has too many different responsibilities and, in the
view of Kremlin sources speaking on condition of anonymity, hasn’t been successful
(rbc.ru/politics/13/07/2020/5f05a8079a79477c4c39bfa5?from=column_2).
Among those involved in these
discussions are Dmitry Kozak, the deputy head of the Presidential
Administration, Yevgeny Primakov, the new head of Rossotrudnichestvo,
and representatives of various ministries.
The news agency noted that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the new
constitutional amendments adds new tasks to this effort.
But almost certainly what has
prompted these discussions was the finding by the Portland International
Consulting Agency that Russia has slipped from 26th place in
national soft power efforts in 2016 to 30th out of 30 countries last
year, the RBC news agency says in its report about these developments.
No
final decisions have been made, but the news agency sources suggest that there will
be at least two changes: the agency will be directly subordinate to Vladimir
Putin, thus signaling its importance, and will be a state corporation, an arrangement
that will allow it to attract money from various enterprises.
It
is possible that the new head of Rossotrudnichestvo is behind these
moves. Primakov is known to be skeptical about traditional forms of advancing
Russia’s interests in this area abroad, by exhibits and conferences. Others
have criticized the agency for its shortcomings relative to American, German,
British and French efforts.
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