3. Russia's soft power building and application

Resources are merely part of soft power and the capacity to utilize resources, namely the will, means and skill to use them, directly determines the extent to which they play the role. Moscow has not updated and innovated its ways and techniques to apply its soft power until recent years.

3.1 Rossotrudnichestvo and the Russian World Foundation—— improve Russia's national image through cultural exchanges

Launching cooperation with the rest of the world in culture, science and technology has been an important approach for Russia to shape a favorable national image as well as a component of its soft power. According to the conceptions of the 2000, 2008 and 2013 editions of the Foreign Policy of Russia, developing international cultural communication has all along been a priority of the Kremlin's foreign policy.

The Russian World Foundation and Rossotrudnichestvo (the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation) were established in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Both agencies have similar functions, taking as their major tasks to promote the popularity of Russian language, the dissemination of Russian culture, and the ties with Russians living abroad, to promote cultural assistance and communication, and to build a rather positive national image in the international community. In 2009, the country launched an international image committee and high-ranking officials including director of the presidential office, minister of Foreign Affairs, assistant to the president for international affairs are in charge of its routine business. In 2010, the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund was founded.

The above-stated agencies have a common feature: though claim to be NGOs, they are backed by the Russian government, especially the enormous support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among them, Rossotrudnichestvo play a leading role, also with substantial results. Its work, involved in the work schedule of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its representative office abroad — Russian Scientific and Cultural Center, is a typical organization of Russia's diplomatic endeavor. These organizations established by Russia are aimed at promoting international exchanges. For instance, the Rossotrudnichestvo was set up to imitate the US Agency for International Development and the Russian World Foundation followed the examples of the British Council of Culture and the Goethe Institute. Apart from promoting culture and language, these organizations are also engaged in publicizing ideologies, including searching and interfering with the content of the country's domestic politics. Nonetheless, the Russian World Foundation and Rossotrudnichestvo are still in a preliminary stage, a far cry from their international counterparts and falling short of the Russian government's expectations.

3.2 Rise of RT — Russia scrambles for discourse power

Media are not merely a means for people to convey and acquire information but more of a communication tool involving a state's political views. Against the background where public opinion war, publicity war and information war have become major competition forms among different powers, international communication capacity can surely be viewed as a kind of soft power equivalent to cultural and political resources.

In recent years Moscow has been placed at rather a disadvantageous position in the public opinion war with the Western world. The Color Revolution has disgraced Russia. In 2008, Russia won the war with Georgia but was defeated in publicity. To tackle challenges, the Kremlin has accelerated the internationalization process of media by communicating and cooperating with prestigious presses on the one hand and integrating media resources on the other. It has established a series of modern, world-oriented media outlets including Russia Today (RT), a government-funded television network. In social network and new media, it has adopted a more open attitude than China and used YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to express its voices.

RT constitutes a highlight of Russia's international communication strategies and has become a rising star in the international communication architecture. In the Ukrainian crisis between 2013 and 2014, video programs with station caption of“RT” were widely transferred by foreign media outlets. Russian media represented by RT conveyed a strong voice, successfully breaking the scenario where Western media had been monopolizing the global news agenda and manifesting the power of new media. Although the publicity war for the Ukrainian crisis has been unfolding, Russia has struck apparent progress this time compared with its performance during the Color Revolution and its war with Georgia, largely dispelling Western countries' discourse attack on the ongoing crisis.

3.3 Valdai International Discussion Club — impacting influential people

Russia attaches great importance to non-media sector. For instance, it holds seminars, academic visits, consultations and interviews or directly sets up research bases abroad, aiming at improving its national image and enhancing its influence upon the rest of the world by influencing academic authorities and opinion leaders. The Valdai International Discussion Club, the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation and the Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum are such platforms created to conduct these communication activities.

The Valdai International Discussion Club often invites world-prestigious experts on Russia-related issues and the press to interact with senior Russian officials and scholars. The most impressive part of the club is Putin's speech and the question-and-answer session. Similar platforms include the Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Baikal Club International and Khabarovsk Economic Forum. In addition, Institute of Democracy and Cooperation was established to spread Russia's political and economic development achievements to the West.

At present, publicity activities represented by the Valdai International Discussion Club demonstrate the Kremlin's increasing self-confidence and opening attitude to some degree. Nonetheless, the excessive authoritative tint of these organizations has caused vigilance of the West, hence Russia has failed to guide Western public opinion by creating international topics.

3.4 Plan of Ketchum

International media public relations constitute one of the pillars of soft power, which has become extremely important today when media's influence upon the international community is rising. Many countries have chosen to employ the US' public relations corporations and making use of their game rules to lobby media relations. Moscow's cooperation with world-famous Ketchum Public Relations is a pertinent example.

Ketchum helps Russia plan many impressive public relations events, including the Group of Eight Summit, Putin's being on the annual list of the world's 100 most influential people of the Time magazine, and the New York Times publishing the Russian president's open letter criticizing American exceptionalism. In the war with Georgia, Ketchum carried out lobbying activities at the US Congress. In the Ukrainian crisis, the firm organized business people, lawyers and scholars to launch a series of programs and columns on various media outlets such as the well-known Consumer News and Business Channel and the Huffington Post, with an attempt to defend for Russia's conducts and mitigating Americans' hostility against Moscow. The reactions of US media outlets show that the Russian government has seen some effect in its public relations because its voices have successfully appeared in US media outlets. Furthermore, its accusation of US officials and media have also been reported, thus preventing Moscow's voice from being inundated by Western media.