Minerva-funded researchers, Catherine Luther and Brandon Prins highlight a new form of public diplomacy called "hard soft power," which combines traditional soft power (influence through cultural appeal) with subtle threats to create fear and division among foreign populations in their latest article.This strategy is used by Russia to manipulate foreign media and influence Russian-speaking populations in countries like Ukraine and Georgia. It seems to undermine democratic institutions and weaken NATO allies by promoting anti-Western narratives.
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Minerva-funded Project: Identifying Patterns of Russia’s Malign Influence Operations in Online Spaces and Their Influences on Russian-Speaking Populations and Russian Diasporas