US Public Diplomacy as an Instrument of "Soft Power" in the Russian-American Relations after 2014

This study focuses on the analysis of the US public diplomacy as an instrument of “soft power” in Russian-American relations after 2014. The author defines public diplomacy as a way of the state’s foreign policy initiative to influence on other political units and the public in these units in such areas as politics, society, culture, sports, digital technologies and so on, aimed at creating an attractive image of this country and having the intention of obtaining the necessary foreign policy benefits. Public diplomacy is an instrument of “soft power” in the sense that it allows mobilizing the resources of soft power (the country's culture, its political values and foreign policy) in order to be attractive to the society of other countries. After the 2014 crisis came in Russian-American relations and the United States began to see a threat in Russia, it became necessary to consider how the US government’s policy in the field of public diplomacy changed the after 2014. The study analyzes and summarizes the methods of US public diplomacy in relation to Russia after the Ukrainian crisis. The author concludes that the goals and objectives of US public diplomacy have changed due to changes in US national security strategies. The study shows that US public diplomacy methods have changed. Over the past 6 years, their focus has shifted from educational and cultural exchanges to listening and propaganda strategies.