Russia for the first time entered the top 30 countries of the “soft power” – RBC

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Russian first He entered the list of 30 most influential countries in the world by the criterion of “soft power” – the ability to influence others not with money and weapons, and culture and civic values ​​

London PR-agency Portland has published an annual list of leading countries by criterion ” soft power »- the soft power 30. Russia ranked it 27th place

Leadership in this year went to the United States, who were forced out of the first position of the UK, relegating it to second place.. In third place in this year – Germany, also dropped one place from second place. In the first five as Canada and France – the fourth and fifth places respectively

In addition to Russia for the first time in the top-30 hit Hungary and Argentina (26 th and 30 th places respectively)

“in recent years, manifestations of hard power in Russia is much more noticeable than the manifestation of soft power. While the US and EU sanctions, Russia has not been treated kindly by their “western colleagues”, -. The report notes

«At the same time, in spite of its revanchist foreign policy, Russia has large reserves of soft power in the region culture. It is a museum “Hermitage”, the Bolshoi Theatre, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Malevich, Bulgakov and Tchaikovsky “, – the authors of the rating mark. In addition, the opinion of Russia varies around the world, they say. The authors emphasize that the research does not focus exclusively on the western assessment and reflect world opinion.

At the height of the positive perception of Russia in the world, according to the authors, could affect more quiet period around the situation in eastern Ukraine, as well as the attempt to take a leading role in the struggle against the “Islamic state” (an organization recognized in Russia forbidden) in Syria. However, this opinion is not reflected among the western public, the authors of the study

The final index of Portland is constructed from two parts, covering the objective and subjective indicators -. With a weight of 70 and 30%. It concerns the objective of the business climate, culture, information (digital), public administration, foreign policy and education. This group of factors that can be measured directly.

The subjective indicators obtained in the course of public opinion polls. Respondents were asked to rate the cuisine, the friendliness of the citizens towards tourists, technology, luxury goods – as well as its confidence in the behavior of the country in the international arena, the desire to visit it for work or study, the contribution of the state in the culture of the world

. The Agency shall publish such a study for the second year in a row, last year Russia in the top 30 has not got.