This paper argues that Russia’s soft power should be understood as a niche soft power, microtargeting some specific audiences based on four particularisms:

Russian Foreign Policy and Security

The Foreign Policy and Security research axis whithin Ifri's Russia / NIS Center of research analyses the relations of Russia and the New Independent States with the rest of the world, with a special focus on security issues.
Director of Ifri's Russia-NIS Center
...Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...Project Officer, Russia/NIS Center
Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...Associate Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
...When analyzing the global state of play around artificial intelligence (AI), Russia so far looks like an “outsider” compared to the two technological leaders, the United States and China.
Since 2014, Russia has notably intensified its policies in Africa, joining the race for local markets and opportunities presented by the rapidly growing and transforming continent.
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a harsh spotlight on the state of global governance. Faced with the greatest emergency since the Second World War, nations have regressed into narrow self-interest. The concept of a rules-based international order has been stripped of meaning, while...
This article analyses Russia’s relations with Latin America in the first two decades of the 21st century in the light of global political and economic processes.
Russian strategic culture is evolving fast, despite the consolidation of the ruling regime, which is maturing into a more rigid autocracy, whereby its ideological outlook becomes increasingly conservative.
Northeast Asia has emerged as a critical theater of Russian foreign policy in recent years.
...Despite the deterioration of its relations with the West and economic stagnation limiting its room for maneuver, Russia continues to have an ambitious policy for the Arctic region.
As Emmanuel Macron hosts Angela Merkel, Vladimir Zelenskiy, and Vladimir Putin for a summit aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict, it is worth taking stock of the French leader’s Russia policy to try to discern what Paris’s policy toward Moscow can and cannot achieve.
This paper explores the latest developments in key spheres of the Russia-India relationship in order to identify the state of bilateral ties at a time when South Asia has turned into an area of geopolitical contest of both global and regional powers.
The Arctic: Seizing Opportunities and Safeguarding Stability Videoconference
The Arctic region has enjoyed lasting political stability for several decades. However, the region is very vulnerable to the acceleration of climate change, and in addition, it is subject to growing interest from global powers eager to explore its geo-economic and geo-strategic potential....
Russia’s thwarted ambitions By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
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Russia’s power: instruments and dilemmas By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
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Russia: challenges of the next presidential term 2018-2024 By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
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Towards Vladimir Putin’s Fourth Term as President: Challenges and Prospects By personal and non-transferable invitation
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Russia by 2025: which scenarios? By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
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Moscow-Washington: assessing Obama’s legacy, anticipating Trump’s policy By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
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The Internet: a new Russian “weapon”? By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
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Russia and Information Warfare: Aims, Tools and Implications for the West By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
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Silovik Stockholm Syndrome: Russia's security agencies as drivers, beneficiaries, and victims of Putinism By personal and non-transferable invitation
This event is dedicated to the Russia/NIS Centre Corporate supports. By personal invitation only.
...Kremlin stance is blow to European countries which favour outreach to Moscow. Russia’s combative treatment of the EU’s top diplomat during a landmark trip there has triggered a political outcry — but little expectation that the European bloc will end divisions over how to handle the Kremlin.<...>
French president’s ‘trust-building’ with Russian leader has failed
The poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny with the Novichok nerve agent has dealt a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's strategy of rapprochement with Russia, which troubled some EU allies, analysts say.
Editor’s Note: This opinion piece was written based on the experience of Kyiv Post staff writer Anna Myroniuk, a native of Donetsk, on a trip to Paris at the invitation of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sponsored a visit by Ukrainian journalists in early February. In Paris, the...
Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron senses an opportunity to bring Russia's Vladimir Putin back in from the cold and potentially help usher in peace in Ukraine, an ambitious -- and risky -- undertaking that Western allies might not welcome.
RT, dubbed as an "organ of influence and deceitful propaganda" by President Emmanuel Macron in May during a joint news conference with Vladimir Putin, has now launched RT France. Has France become the latest front in Russia's information war?
King Salman received at the Kremlin with his 1,000-strong delegation, including 100 businessmen. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's official visit to Moscow is the first visit to Russia for a Saudi head of state. Can this visit be seen as the signal of a shift in the region or is it just...
3 questions to Mark GALEOTTI, Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague, Director of Mayak Intelligence consultancy.
3 questions to Andrey KORTUNOV, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).
3 questions to Stephen SZABO, Executive Director, Transatlantic Academy.