Abstract

The Russian Federation has been undergoing some rapid changes in the manner in which it organises its public diplomacy, which can be seen in how the recent Foreign Policy Doctrines have been worded and formulated. There are a number of pressing challenges as well as opportunities rising. One of the greatest challenges is how to manage a great deal of negative publicity on and about Russia that is available in Western mainstream media. But there are also opportunities too as world publics are becoming increasingly divided along norm and value lines based on liberalism versus conservatism. In spite of the projected negative brand image, Russia still is a source of attraction to some segmented groups. This is driven by a mixture of international geopolitical competition and domestic social and cultural fragmentation. Mass media assets of Russian public diplomacy have had mixed results in such a hostile and challenging environment, but they have not been completely without success either.