Russia's soft power in the South Caucasus

The idea of soft power, as conceived by the American scholar Joseph Nye (2004), has a strong Western intellectual pedigree. Soft power is not simply a new concept for describing non-force-based methods of diplomacy but reflects a new international reality, with the growing importance of norms, the stronger roles for non-state actors and more permeable borders. Politically, it is connotative of highly normative concepts of democracy promotion and normative convergence (as exemplified, in particular, by the EU’s Neighbourhood Policy).