This year, the British PR agency Portland for the first time has ranked Russia one of world's strongest countries in terms of 'soft power'. The United States, Germany and Japan are named the first three countries that could influence other states not through weapons, but through their culture and civic values, while Russia took the 27th position. If in the West Russia tries to get rid of the image of a bear in an ushanka-hat, not always successfully by the way, then in the East things are much better.
"Russia has a colossal experience of understanding the East. Russia's humanitarian responsibility and its direct national interest is to develop its humanitarian mission and promote its educational and scientific models. It gives us the opportunity to take a fresh look at what we have, understand what needs to be modernized," the Dean of the Political Science Department at Moscow State University of Foreign Affairs, Professor Alexei Voznesensky, said.
According to him, one can argue about the use of force, but the humanitarian mission is sacred: "Here you can find support in the world. They are interested in what we're doing. Indeed, on the one hand, we have accumulated great Soviet experiences, and on the other hand, we have managed to rework, rethink and apply it from the point of view of our national interests to today's life of Russia. It is an attractive baggage for many countries, especially for the Middle East".
Alex Voznesensky wondered why religion-related and culture-related topics have contributed to the split suddenly. "Religion and culture have always united and can become a basis on which we can unite," the professor is convinced.
