The Russian Orthodox Church: An Effective Religious Instrument of Russia‘s “Soft” Power Abroad. The Case Study of Moldova

Abstract

By stepping up linkages with post-Soviet states and by creating a various and sophisticated scope of soft power instruments, the Russian federation has striven to maintain its strong influence and simultaneously sought to block Western impact in the Post-soviet region. The principal goal of this study is to explore how the Russian political establishment and the influential Russian Orthodox Church are working together to generate Orthodox Christian linkages in the post-Soviet state of the Republic of Moldova and how they are using Orthodox aspects related to “Orthodox identity” and “Orthodox brotherhood” with a view of obtaining support and admiration of the population of this country. The Russian Orthodox Church as an institution is increasingly becoming an effective tool of the Russian concept of soft power, which is taking on growing dimensions and dangerous forms in the hands of the current Russian political leaders. A success or failure of this kind of Russian soft power is subsequently evaluated in the conclusion.

Keywords

• soft power
• foreign policy
• the russian federation
• the republic of moldova
• the russian orthodox church
• the moldavian orthodox church