The Digital Diplomacy of Russian Political Dissent during Russia’s War in Ukraine

• In Event: Digital Politics, Dissent, and Mobilization in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia

Abstract

This paper analyzes how several organizations representing Russian political dissent and operating outside of Russia, engaged in digital public diplomacy during Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine launched in the winter of 2022. The paper defines digital diplomacy as “the conduct of diplomacy through networked technologies” (Potter, 2012), and links the discussion to the framework of non-state actor diplomatic capabilities (Kelley, 2015). The framework posits that non-state actors, while lacking official diplomatic status, can nevertheless exercise their diplomatic capabilities. When dissenting non-state actors exercise their diplomatic capabilities, they attempt to (re)claim representational power from the states. Frequently, their public diplomacy activities are grounded in the belief that their respective governments do not represent them, their values, and their vision of what their country is and should be. Through content analysis of social media posts, media content and relevant documents produced by such organizations as Free Russia Foundation, Boris Nemtsov Foundation, Russian Anti-War Committee and the Russian Action Committee, this paper assesses the extent to which these organizations have been utilizing such diplomatic capabilities as disrupting, mobilizing, gatekeeping, and agenda setting in their attempts to reclaim representational power from the Kremlin, engage the Russians the war in Ukraine, and present an alternative image and identity of Russia to the foreign publics.

Author

• Anna Popkova, Western Michigan U