How Russian Soft Power Fails in Estonia: Or, Why the Russophone Minorities Remain Quiescent

Abstract

This article evaluates the significance of Russian soft power in Estonia, particularly in connection to the minority issue, and compares this soft power to the countervailing pull of the European Union on the other side. It concludes that although Russia does indeed have a number of soft power resources, their potential for being translated into actual power and influence is too often exaggerated, not least because Europe provides a much more attractive focus point for the disgruntled than Moscow. Moreover, Estonia has it fully within its power to bolster its own attractiveness in the eyes of the minority populations. Thus, although relations with Russia should be handled with care, it is not Russia’s soft power that should be feared.

Minority Response to Ethnic Democracy

“…By nature, this factor distinguishes Lithuania from the other two Baltic states, where national threats are not perceived as common. 17 The Lithuanian Poles described in this study are comparable to those Russian-speakers in Latvia and Estonia who have developed a distinct local Russian identity and identify themselves with a pro-European Latvian and Estonian demos (Cheskin, 2012;Nielsen and Paabo, 2015).…”

The Russian Social Engineering Attack on the President of the Republic of Poland as a Manifestation of Modern Soft Power

“…In addition to the issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two Russians, being aware of the President's relationship with Donald Tusk, provoke him to voice his opinion about the politician as well as issues related to homosexuality. However, the above-mentioned questions serve only as a manoeuvre to move to the actual point, which concerns the diplomatic relations between Poland and Russia as 2 4 The style of the conversation between the Russian and the Polish President is far from the standards adopted in the diplomatic discourse and cannot be treated as an official position or point of view of the Russian foreign policy makers. Nevertheless, the timing of the interview and the topics raised lead to the conclusion that humour was not the only objective that guided the interviewer.…”

Can Volunteer Forces Deter Great Power War? Evidence from the Baltics

“…In September 2015, it launched ETV+, its first state-sponsored all-Russian language TV channel. 60 Estonia's standing army numbers only 6,400, half of whom are professional soldiers and the other half conscripts, but a 26,000-strong Estonian Defense League (EDL) and 60,000 reservists reinforce it. 61 At the heart of the EDL's military focus is this question of expeditionary versus territorial defense.…”