Religious and political conflict in Ukraine in the context of Russian projects of “soft power” in 1990–2017
https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2018-2-79-91
Abstract
The article attempts to consider the religious and political conflict in Ukraine in the context of exercising the Russian “soft power” having been applied in the period of 1990–2017. The author analyzes the formats and strategies of the Russian “soft power” in Ukraine using means and potentialities of the Russian orthodox Church (RoC) and the Ukrainian orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UoC MP). The elements of Russian soft power with the use of the religious factor are fixed within the election companies of the Ukrainian President The author also analyzes the influence of the religious factor while forming and later articulating the “Russian world” conception as a tool of Russian soft power. He demonstrates an evolution of the “Russian world” discourse produced by the RoC and RoC MP from “integration” aimed at transforming the political reality to “protective” aimed at preserving the spiritual tradition and identifies four stages of the evolution of the Russian soft power in Ukraine with the use of the religious factor. The author concludes that there is no global project to implement the Russian soft power in Ukraine using the religious factor but there are some local situational projects that represent a response to a specific political challenge.
About the Author
S. P. Dontsev
Russian State University for the Humanities.
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ph.D. in Politics.
bld. 6, Miusskaya sq., Moscow, 125993.
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Review
For citations:
Dontsev S.P. Religious and political conflict in Ukraine in the context of Russian projects of “soft power” in 1990–2017. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin Series "Political Science. History. International Relations". 2018;(2):79-91. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2018-2-79-91
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