A Three-faceted Contextualisation on the Position of Soft Power in Russian Foreign policy (2000-2019)‎

Although soft power has a root in western/liberal thought/practice and traces back to a three-decade background in international literature, it has gained a notable position in Russian foreign policy-making, becoming one of most often-used concepts among the Kremlin officials, Given to this trend, it can be asked which factors have led them to pay  attention to use of soft power in Russian foreign policy more seriously, and which type of evaluation will analyzing them bring about regarding the current situation of Russian soft power on global scene. In answering, the aim is to present a certain of comprehensive analysis, referred to as Three-faceted Contextualisation, on the Position of Soft Power in Russian Foreign policy., In doing so, having presented a brief conceptual framework on soft power, the article argues how historical-emperical, narrative-discursive, and documentary factors have brought Russia’s increasingly serious effort to draw on soft power in promoting foreign policy. Precisely, using a historical process-tracing, it will be illustrated how Soft Power in Russian Foreign policy has evolved since soviet ara; relying on library method, Russian narratives on soft power will be briefly evaluated; utilizing qualitative content analysis, we will analyse the evolution of Russian positions on soft power in the light of some key document on Russian foreign policy issued during two recent decades.  Finally, we conclude that Russian Soft Power has dealt with some limitations, which prevent its goals from achieving in the forseen future.