How Russia employs ‘hard soft power’ to influence overseas media and sow dissent and fear among foreign populations

Inside the studio during an RT broadcast. Misha Friedman/Getty Images

Public diplomacy – the art of rallying a foreign audience behind a nation’s interests – used to be about attracting support through charm, values and cultural exports. It is what political scientist Joseph Nye first referred to as “soft power.”

But our peer-reviewed study of Russian attempts to use foreign media as a diplomacy tool in the run-up to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 highlights that the art has been adapted into what we call “hard soft power.”