Smart Power Strategy in EU’s Foreign Policy Against Russia

In the new era of international relations, great powers try to realize their foreign policy interests and purposes resorting to the components of smart power. The 2022 Russian war against Ukraine and EU’s challenges in fulfilling the security of its citizens and repelling the threats from neighboring countries have shown that sole focus on soft powers strategies or relying on foreign military power (NATO) has turned European Union into a dependent political entity which is affected by US decisions. Today, European leaders have realized that EU should adopt an optimal and smart combination of soft and hard power against Kremlin especially in Eastern Europe through a unified and coordinated policy. By resorting to new and different realistic interpretation of smart power concept, adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, and using library and electronic resources, the present research has tried to answer this main question that how smart power can secure EU’s interests against Russia; the findings of the research indicate that EU has recently codified new strategic documents regarding developing rapid reaction military forces, energy security, comprehensive sanctions and confronting Russian news agencies in order to take serious measures in reducing its security dependence, endogenous security, maximizing and balancing its power against coming threats and intends to play an active security role in the future of international system.