Russia's "soft power" in 2000-2025: strategies, tools, and results

The subject of the research is the evolution of Russian "soft power" from 2000 to 2025 in connection with the change in the country's foreign policy positioning, the institutional architecture of humanitarian influence, and the geography of external communications. The author examines the strategies, tools, and outcomes of cultural diplomacy, educational policy, international media presence, religious-civilizational practices, and work with compatriots abroad. Special attention is paid to the relationship between universalist and sovereign-identity components of Russian humanitarian policy after 2014, as well as the differences between the Russian, American, and Chinese models of "soft power." The aim of the study is to identify the stages of the evolution of Russian humanitarian strategy, determine the mechanisms of its implementation, and assess its effectiveness under conditions of sanctions pressure, digital restrictions, and a shift in foreign policy focus towards non-Western regions. The research is based on comparative-political analysis, discursive reconstruction, institutional mapping, and content analysis of official documents, program materials, and comparable analytical data. The main conclusion of the study is the presence of three phases in the development of Russian "soft power": proto-institutional, institutional-constructivist, and conflict-identification. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that Russian humanitarian policy is interpreted not as a collection of disparate projects, but as an adaptive system that changes under the influence of sanctions, information warfare, and the narrowing of Western channels of influence. It has been established that after 2014, Russia lost part of its universalist potential, but retained niche effectiveness in the post-Soviet and non-Western spaces, primarily through education, media platforms, cultural centers, and work with the historical-value agenda. The results can be used in the development of cultural diplomacy programs, educational exports, international communications, and regionally differentiated humanitarian strategies, as well as in expert and managerial practice.