NATION BRANDING AND RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY

Abstract

The process of globalisation has made the concept of nation brand an important one in the current context. This ensures that there is intense competition among countries for attention, respect and trust in order to achieve their policy goals and objectives. One of the means to try and market a country in the international competition is via the use of nation branding [Marsh & Fawcett, 2011: 517; Fan, 2008; Stock, 2009; Szondi, 2010]. The concept of nation branding has become popular, but some have argued how can a nation be marketed like some kind of product [O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2000; Seib (a), 2009]? A combination of the increasing competition between different countries and advances in new communication technologies is ensuring a much more interactive communication between governments and foreign publics [Wang, 2005; L'Etang, 2009; Szondi, 2010]. As pointed out by Ying Fan, nation brand and nation branding are two different things. A nation may already have a brand, regardless whether branding is taking place or not [Fan, 2006]. This is formed by the nature of information generated about that nation, the stereotypes and opinions held by publics. Branding may take place to try and reform, repair, enhance or remake the existing image in order for the country in question to be viewed as being more attractive and competitive. Nation branding can be seen as a form of cure or panacea for something that is 'wrong' with a country's image [Fan, 2006]. However, nation branding is not something that is easily undertaken. It needs to take the sum of all of a country's parts into account and get them aligned to a simple and appealing message that resonates with the target audience. Since the mid-2000s, Russia has joined the list of countries that seek to use nation branding to fulfil politically determined and directed national ambitions [Simons, 2011]. How does Russia use nation branding, and what ends is this intended to serve? What are the tangible resources that are exploited to brand the country? Before embarking on answering this question, stock needs to be taken of the current debate on nation branding. This is an increasingly common term and practice, but is not necessarily commonly understood. The foundations of the concept and practice of nation branding are discussed. Soft power forms the subject of the next section. Issues of a definition and the significance of soft power are outlined. This is then connected to the 2013 Concept of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation. The ambitions and goals of the document are connected with the practice of nation branding and the desire for accumulating soft power. Different attempts at nation branding by the Russian Federation are detailed, and how these are connected with the understanding of soft power (and what purpose this serves).