Russia's ‘soft power' policy in the countries of Central Asia: an analysis of the methods of ‘people's diplomacy' in the field of education

ABSTRACT

The relevance of the problem stated in the article is due to the growing importance of applying the methods of ‘soft power' in the world, as well as a large number of citizens of Central Asian countries receiving higher education in educational institutions of the Russian Federation. It is also worth noting that this topic is not sufficiently disclosed. In this regard, the purpose of the authors' work is to reveal the topic of Russia's use of levers of indirect influence in relation to the Central Asian republics. The main methods for studying this problem are the methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, synthesis, as well as the empirical method, which allow us to describe the most important aspects of the application of 'soft power' Russian Federation in relation to the countries of Central Asia. The article presents a study of educational quotas for citizens of the Central Asian countries, the dynamics of changes in their number; the concept of 'soft power' is disclosed, the forms of its manifestation are described; the level of development of higher education in the Central Asian countries is considered, the problem of 'diploma factories' is disclosed.

KEYWORDS:

• Soft power
• Education
• Problems of ‘diploma factories’
• Budget places
• Quotas
• Double degree programmes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan [grant number AP09260789].

Notes on contributors

Aigerim Ospanova

Aigerim Ospanova is a PhD, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Regional Studies, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. Her scientific interests are education, the problems of ‘diploma factories’, and double degree programs.

Balaussa Seilkhan

Balaussa Seilkhan is a PhD, Researcher at the Department of Regional Studies, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. The field of research interest is the level of development of higher education in Central Asian countries.

Zhaslan Nurbaev

Zhaslan Nurbaev is a PhD, Associate Professor at the Department of Regional Studies, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. His research interests are educational quotas for free higher education, educational and cultural programs.

Gulnara Bukeshova

Gulnara Bukeshova is a PhD, Associate Professor at the Department of Regional Studies, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. Her scientific interests include higher education, budget places, and the process of granting quotas for free higher education.

Moldir Bolysbekova

Moldir Bolysbekova is a Master, Researcher at the Department of Regional Studies, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. Her scientific interests are the policy of ‘soft power’ in relation to the countries of Central Asia, and the process of distributing educational quotas.