MEMO: The Russian soft power: World Youth Festival in Sirius and Sochi
From March 1st to 7th, 2024, Russia will host the World Youth Festival, to be held in the city of Sochi, on the coast of the Black Sea.
In addition to Sochi, the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics, activities will also be conducted in the newly created Federal Territory of Sirius.
These are neighboring locations, pleasant destinations with a long tradition of tourism and leisure.
In the debate on international relations, hosting major events reaffirms what we describe as “soft power”.
Initiatives like this seek to demonstrate to a wide range of neighboring countries the capabilities of dialogue and influence in terms of social values and achievements.
Considering the Western (or Westernized) hegemony in global cultural penetration, the event contradicts old manifestations during the Cold War, when Russia was the key country of the former Soviet Union (USSR) — the leading state of the Soviet bloc and, in European terms, of the Warsaw Pact.
One of the goals of the Russian state under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin is to amplify its capacity for dialogue and interpenetration.
After the year 2000, the country became better known abroad for its complex security and defense apparatus composed of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and the significant Main Intelligence Agency (GRU).
Another notable aspect is the state’s takeover of key energy companies fundamental to the territory’s existence, such as Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas exporter; Rosneft, more dedicated to the oil sector, among the largest on the planet; and Lukoil, the second-largest oil producer on the planet and the second strongest corporate entity.
Without regaining control of the three aforementioned corporations — all with the majority of shares subordinate to the Kremlin — and in the absence of expertise in security and defense, there is a high probability that Russia would not even continue to exist.
A complex arrangement between the state’s ruling elite and the oligarchs of post-Soviet capitalism was the solution found by the heirs of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine II, and Joseph Stalin — who, despite being Georgian, was “russianized” — to forestall further plunder and dilapidation of the assets built since 1917 and to secure a large part of the territorial extent consolidated with the military campaigns of the Romanovs in the mid-19th century.
With the resumption of Russian capabilities in the 21st century, the post-Cold War world, hitherto under the hegemony of the United States, has changed dramatically.
Through China’s economic development, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Sino-Russian rapprochement through oil exploration agreements in Kazakhstan, the “great Eurasian chessboard” projected by the American analyst (of Polish origin) Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928-2017) simply did not materialize.
If we take into account the events in the Sahel region and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the exchange of local elites, ending loyalties with former Western metropolises and approaching the power orbit of Russia and China, we see that the world has indeed changed.
For the hard game of the International System, “balance” is a complex account that ultimately lies in a certain parity of arms in the correlation of forces.
The Russia-China binomial and the economic multilateralism promoted within BRICS and beyond make the state led by Putin a major geostrategic player on the World Power board.
Eurasian economic integration, diplomatic pragmatism, and the development of economic relations without the use of the dollar — as is the case with Russia and Iran, for example — serve as a benchmark for a de-dollarized global economy.
The central program of the Festival
For the World Youth Festival in Sochi, 20,000 young people from across Russia, as well as foreigners, are expected to participate.
Debates and activities will revolve around various themes, including sports, media, social projects, science, entrepreneurship, volunteering, international cooperation, education, culture, and child advocacy.
The effort to engage “young leaders” is significant.
The Russian state, through its central government — considering that the festival was established by decree — will have the following activities for content production and public diplomacy dissemination:
KNOWLEDGE: FIRST MARATHON Lectures, workshops, roundtable discussions, and discussion programs with leading Russian and foreign speakers will be held as part of the Knowledge First marathon; The partnership is with the Russian Knowledge Society.
MEDIA PROFILE: PUBLISH, COMMUNICATE, PROMOTE Festival guests will participate in a business game. For a short period, they must feel like real media producers; During the event, they will learn from experts at the University of St. Petersburg about creating, distributing, and promoting content on digital channels; The partnership is with the aforementioned educational institution.
100 COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD TALK ABOUT EDUCATION IN RUSSIA Leaders of five student associations from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean will address event participants; One hundred students from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) — heir to the tradition of Patrice Lumumba — including leaders of academic communities, will be connected to the broadcast and will respond to questions from festival guests online, promoted by Moscow; The partnership is with the aforementioned educational institution.
7TH GLOBAL YOUNG DIPLOMATS FORUM The festival will also host a traditional conference of Foreign Ministries officials from around the world, operating according to the concept of “horizontal diplomacy” developed in Russia; Its main objective is to create and strengthen the foundations of mutually beneficial and long-term friendship among diplomats who will, in the medium term, determine the foreign policy of their countries; The partnership is with the Young Diplomats Council of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF YOUNG CENTRAL BANK OFFICIALS As part of the meeting of future leaders, young potential officials from Central Banks will also participate, with the holding of three roundtable discussions for the exchange of experiences, discussion of examples of international cooperation, and analysis of the work of national banks of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as notable examples of successful joint activities; The partnership is with the Central Bank of Russia.
CRITIQUE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND LECTURE ON NEUROSCIENCE, BY TATYANA CHERNIGOVSKAYA A team of individuals with special knowledge and experience in philosophy will challenge artificial intelligence based on advanced machine learning algorithms to discuss Immanuel Kant’s key ideas related to ethics, cognition, and morality; The audience will be invited to ask questions and participate in discussions; Russian scientist Tatyana Chernigovskaya will give a lecture on neurobiology; Tatyana will address the latest research and achievements in this field; The partnership is with the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University.
The central program is also expected to include “Slam, Science Show,” the “International Engineering Triathlon: Robot Battle,” and the “Pro-Science Platform.” In this way, different strands of contemporary knowledge and power achievement will be addressed by the initiative put forward by President Putin.
Conclusion: Russia competes in a Eurasian and transnationalized space
The Kremlin’s effort to hold this festival also aims to break the forced isolation through Western media — as well as public diplomacy conducted through control of social media algorithms coordinated with the United States National Security Agency (NSA).
The above described represents a small part of the program in its most significant aspect, addressing the strategic axes of the competition for World Power in the second quarter of the 21st century.
In intracapitalist competition, between BRICS and OECD, multifaceted Russia — going beyond its already proven capabilities in security, defense, intelligence, and energy resources — is a considerable reinforcement for the economic bloc advancing alongside de-dollarization.
The Sirius and Sochi Festival significantly reflects this strategic maneuver adopted by the Kremlin for the dissemination of Russian soft power.
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