Soft power in russia's sport policy

In traditional world of politics power has been usually understood in the context of military or economic capabilities. It was conventionally defined as a form of coercion. However, in 1990‘s Joseph S. Nye introduced the concept of soft power, which broadened the idea of power itself. The principle of using soft power means to pursue foreign and domestic policy goals through positive attraction and co-optive means. Russia also started implementing soft power tools in their political life, especially in the early 2000s, but in their own instrumental manner. Although the most visible Russia‘s soft power strategy reflects near-abroad policies, this study concentrates on soft power tools in the context of sport politics. It includes Russia‘s sport institutions and the ideological narratives, which were prominent at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. It also includes current doping scandal in Russia questioning systemic state involvement in creating “champions“. Therefore, the aim of this study is to introduce the sports as an instrument of soft power. Theoretical background of this study is based on the differences between the classical theory of Joseph S. Nye‘s soft power concept and the specific Russian approach to soft power means, which were described by political scientist and analyst Marcel H. Van Herpen as triple reduction model. Firstly, soft power has become a tool used only by the state, excluding civil society and non-governmental organisations from any soft power related actions. Secondly, soft power is understood as the zero-sum game. Thirdly, it includes illegal activities to pursue foreign as well as domestic soft power gains. The triple reduction model was implemented by analysing Russia‘s sports politics and the 2014 Sochi Games narratives. This analysis confirmed Russia‘s usage of sports as an instrument of soft power to spread the narratives of the winning country not only in sport courts. The 2014 Sochi Games were exploited as the symbol of Russia’s re-emerging global power ambitions and to secure the legitimacy of the Putin’s regime. The triple soft power reduction principle in the context of Russia’s sports was revealed in illegal state-involvement in doping manipulations, conflicts with anti-doping non-governmental actors and zero sum-approach to the 2014 Sochi Games competition against other nations. The doping scandal, which was denied by Russia officials as state-sponsored or state-involved, led to increased soft power in the Russian public, shifting the blame to the West and presenting Russia as the victim of sports politicization. However, the doping scandal tend to have negative impact of the Russian soft power outside Russia. An autocratic country with restrictive political voting, media and human rights, even in the absence of doping scandal, would have very little to lose in respect of soft power potential