| Abstract [eng] |
Under the Influence of Giant: Russia’s Soft Power Towards Moldova The Master’s thesis analyzes Russia’s soft power towards the republic of Moldova. The problem of the thesis. During the last decade Moldova was trapped between EU and Russia, and the two giants tried to influence, attract and bring Moldova closer to their own side. The last presidential elections symbolized a victory of pro-Russian forces in Moldova. This raised a question whether a victory of socialist leader signaled the country’s shift towards Russian integration, especially considering the fact that the electoral campaign was aimed to break the Moldovan alliance with the EU and improve relations with Russia. Another problem emerges concerning the presence of a specific Russia's soft power, which derogates from a classical theory and, therefore, requires more thorough investigations. The problem of the research: How is Russia’s soft power changing towards Moldova? The object of the research is Russia’s soft power tools and effects towards Moldova. The goal of the thesis is to examine the change dynamics in the attractiveness of Russia from the Moldova’s point of view. The tasks of the thesis: 1. To discuss the soft power theory and provide the main arguments. 2. To explain Russia’s perception of soft power. 3. To construct a conceptual framework for measuring soft power. 4. To examine Russia’s soft power tools and effects towards Moldova. The main conclusions of the Master’s thesis. Soft power has become an important force that is being used by countries to increase their influence and ensure leading role in international arena. Ideally, soft power opposes hard power and can be described as the ability to influence the behavior of other countries and encourage them to follow your example by using attractiveness and persuasion. Russian soft power and its practical use are not in line with Nye’s model as it exceeds the limits of classical soft power theory. Russian-style soft power is understood in a much broader sense, involves a wide range of non-military resources and is mainly controlled and financed by the state. The results of the research demonstrate that Russia struggles to attract and influence Moldova with the help of soft power instruments. Firstly, the analysis of Russia’s culture as a resource of soft power provided mixed results. On the one hand, influence of the Orthodox Church and influence of the Russian media have been increasing over the last ten years. While on the other hand, influence of the Russian language, attractiveness of Russia’s education system and popularity of tourism to Russia have been decreasing during the same period. Secondly, the assessment of Russia’s values as a resource of soft power showed that both countries share similar values. Moldovan society has a positive attitude towards Russia’s conservative, traditional, spiritual, moral values. It can be concluded that Russia’s conservative values are attractive to Moldovan society. Thirdly, the findings indicate that Russia’s foreign policy is not attractive to Moldovan society. Actions in Ukraine diminished the image of Russia as a soft power. Moldovan public had a negative opinion about Russia’s actions in Ukraine and found Russia responsible for the emergence of critical situation in Ukraine. Fourthly, the evaluation of Russia’s economy as a resource of soft power revealed that trade relations with Russia are unattractive. Nevertheless, Russia is still able to attract work-related migrants. The empirical analysis of the case of Moldova showed that the country remains undecided and trapped between the EU and Russia. Tendency shows that Russia is becoming less influential in Moldova. Russia’s actions in the region destroyed its soft power image and provided the opposite result than it was wanted – instead of attracting countries closer Russia scared them away. |
