Kosenko S. I. “Soft Power” as a Factor of France’s Cultural Diplomacy
(The Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation in Lausanne, Switzerland)
Abstract ♦ The article covers some relevant aspects of French foreign cultural policy in the context of its “soft power”. The historically distinct place of the cultural diplomacy is emphasized as part of the French strategy aimed to preserve and, ideally, to extend its influence as a great power during the globalization era and, in particular, within the context of its traditional opposition to the U.S. pursuit of spiritual leadership in the world.
Being recognized as “spiritual beacon” of Western civilization for about two centuries, France, as the American hegemony was developing — after the setting up of the Versailles Treaty system in 1918 and especially after the Second World War — gradually started to lose this role. However, due to its steady and efficient cultural policy used as a state-supported soft power, France succeeded, to a certain degree, to preserve its national identity, prestige and influence in the international affairs. It is namely the “soft power” that nowadays permits France to defend and promote its priorities and positions under conditions of a stiff international competition.
France, aptly using the tools of its cultural diplomacy, has been still continuing to keep its inimitable national identity and to protect its national interests, while some other former “great cultural nations” (for instance, Italy or Germany) have got obediently run by the American cultural “road roller”, which emasculates any national culture. That is why the experience and the example of France’s external cultural policy, especially of the last decades, represent an obvious scientific, practical and universal interest, inter alia for Russia.
Keywords: France, soft power, puissance douce, diplomacy of influence, cultural diplomacy, world policy.
Kosenko Sergei Ivanovich, Candidate of Science (political science), diplomatic advisor to the Russian Federation Honorary Consul in Lausanne, Switzerland. Postal address: Av. Rumine 13, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 (021) 623-85-85. E-mail: civiks@bluewin.ch
Citation: Kosenko, S. I. (2014) «Miagkaia sila» kak faktor kul'turnoi diplomatii Frantsii [“Soft Power” as a Factor of France’s Cultural Diplomacy]. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, no. 1, pp. 114–125. (In Russ.).
Kosenko, S. V. (2010) Kul'tura v palitre vneshnei politiki. Opyt Frantsii [Culture in the Pallet of External Policy. The Experience of France]. Moscow, Vostok-Zapad Publ. 320 p. (In Russ.).
Kosenko, S. V. (2011) Miagkoe mogushchestvo v tverdoi upakovke [Soft Power in a Hard Pack]. Moscow, MGIMO University Press. 416 p. (In Russ.).
Narochnitskaia, N. A. (2011) Rossiia i russkie v sovremennom mire [Russia and the Russians in Contemporary World]. Moscow, Eksmo Publ. 416 p. (In Russ.).
Ponomareva, E. G. (2013) Zheleznaia khvatka «miagkoi sily» [The Iron Grip of “Soft Power”]. Odnako, no. 6. [online] Available at: [archived in ] (accessed 5.10.2013). (In Russ.).
Soveshchanie poslov i postoiannykh predstavitelei Rossii [A Meeting of the Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives of Russia] (2012). Prezident Rossii [The President of Russia]. 9th July. [online] Available at: [archived in ] (accessed 5.10.2013). (In Russ.).
Aron, R. (1984) Paix et guerre entre les nations. Paris, Calmann-Lévy. 796 р. (In Fr.).
Baecque, A. de. (2008) Crises dans la culture française. Anatomie d’un échec. Paris, Bayard. 245 р. (In Fr.).
Braudel, F. (1987) Grammaire des civilisations. Paris, Arthaud-Flammarion. 606 p. (In Fr.).
Horkheimer, М., Adorno, Т. W. (2002) Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press. xix, 282 p.
Lane, Ph. (2011) Présence française dans le monde. L’action culturelle et scientifique. Pаris, La Documentation française. 128 р. (In Fr.).
Le message culturel de la France et la vocation interculturel de la francophonie. Avis présenté par Julia Kristeva-Joyaux au Conseil économique, social et écologique. Paris, juin 2009 (2009). Conseil Economique, Social et Environnemental [online] Available at: [archived in ] (accessed 5.10.2013). (In Fr.).
Montbrial, T. de. (2002) L'action et le système du monde. Paris, PUF. 472 p. (In Fr.).
Rapport d'information de MM. Jacques LEGENDRE et Josselin de ROHAN, fait au nom de la commission des affaires culturelles et de la commission des affaires étrangères, de la défense et des forces armées (2009). Sénat. 10th June. [online] Available at: [archived in в ] (accessed 5.10.2013). (In Fr.).
Vaïsse, M. (2009) La puissance ou l’influence? La France dans le monde depuis 1958. Paris, Fayard. 649 р. (In Fr.).
