The Russian World in Perspective: Comparing Russian Culture and Language Promotion with British, German and French Practices

This chapter sets the rationale, the institutional set-up and the practice of Russia’s language promotion in perspective by juxtaposing it to its British, French and German counterparts. How do the aims of Russian cultural diplomacy, in terms of “influencing” and “mediating” compare to those of the Western European States? In how far is the institutional set-up of the Russkii Mir Foundation and of the state agency Rossotrudnichestvo and their relationship to educational and foreign ministries comparable to those of the British Council, the Alliance Française and the Goethe Institutes? Which methods of language promotion do these organisations offer to prospective students? On the basis of the comparison, the chapter will judge Russia’s contemporary language and culture promotion also against the history of Soviet cultural diplomacy and discuss the question of whether or not Russia’s soft power initiative is more than old wine in new bottles.