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Paper abstract:

The article analyses and compares how Germany and Russia create and implement public diplomacy initiatives towards third countries through a case study on Kyrgyzstan. In particular, it focuses on German and Russian state-sponsored programs targeted to Kyrgyz public and analyses their content – in terms of values and norms spread – as well as their main delivery methods. Unlike its regional neighbours, the Kyrgyz Republic welcomes a variety of international actors and allows them to operate openly on its ground, offering a unique environment for public diplomacy efforts in the region. This comparative study seeks to address a set of broader research questions. First, it is essential to identify and explore how Russia and Germany define public diplomacy, i.e., to track their respective academic and policy narratives on public diplomacy. Second, we seek to map and analyse Russia and Germany’s public diplomacy initiatives in Kyrgyzstan as they might provide important insights into public diplomacy as a foreign policy tool and the respective normative powers of these two countries. Finally, we examine to what extent Russian and German public diplomacy policies are similar and/or different. Methodologically speaking, the article is based on a qualitative comparative analysis with a mix of primary and secondary resources. The article offers interesting insights into the nature and substance of the soft power policies pursued by Germany and Russia that are relevant for the Kyrgyz Republic and beyond. In addition, it sheds new light on the increasingly important role played by transnational public diplomacy actors as norm entrepreneurs engaged in processes of social learning in Eurasia.