"Public diplomacy" as one of the forms of cultural policy in Russia supported by UNESCO

Guliyeva Lamia Asgar

This article analyzes some of the ties between Russia and UNESCO in terms of the implementation of the cultural policy of “public diplomacy” in practice. The term is explained, the names of some leading Russian, Azerbaijani and European scientists are given, who consider this political strategy to be correct and useful from the point of view of enriching the population of UNESCO member countries with new cultural values. Having accumulated a number of knowledge on this issue, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that modern “public diplomacy” as one of the branches of the cultural policy of Russia within the framework of UNESCO’s activities is a living and effective lever of influence on both domestic and foreign audiences with the help of a whole arsenal of different methods. The article constantly emphasizes that “public diplomacy” is an important part of the culture of human behavior in society as a whole. Methods for enriching one or another chosen strategy and cultural values ​​can be very different. However, they have a single core. Colliding, juxtaposing, and at times and opposing different points of view on certain forms of embodiment of this diplomacy, it is noted that culture expresses the inner world of a person, his feelings, morals and ideals. Within the scope of the article, a discussion is developed around the issue of using the so-called “soft” or, on the contrary, “hard” power as forms of “public diplomacy”. From the conclusions and generalizations made in the work, it followed that these concepts, with all their grammatical opposition in cultural studies and politics, do not contradict each other. Moreover, they organically complement each other. For the purpose of proof, the work presents the judgments on this score of prominent researchers – Starchak, on the one hand, and the opposite – Dolinsky, on the other. But surprisingly, these different approaches to the implementation of forms of public diplomacy coincide.

Keywords:UNESCO; public diplomacy; cultural code; spiritual culture; creation; humanism, “hard power”; “soft power”.