‘TRADITIONAL VALUES’ — A NEGLECTED TOOL OF RUSSIA’S SOFT POWER IN THE EU’S EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD

Abstract

The dispute between ‘traditional’ and ‘progressive’ values, long a feature of internal debate in the West, has recently evolved into a broader civilizational conflict — with the West uncompromisingly advocating progressive values and Russia positioning itself as the champion of traditional ones. This article explores the potential of the Kremlin’s traditional values discourse in the context of the European Union’s Eastern Neighbourhood. It argues that this region is potentially highly susceptible to the Kremlin’s soft power in this respect. While the psychological effect of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine may temporarily reduce its ability to “attract and co-opt” societies in most Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, the use of values discourse as a channel of soft power is oriented toward the long-term perspective and may produce delayed effects.