Rusya Federasyonu'nun kamu diplomasisi ve tarihi mirası

This thesis analyzes the Russian public diplomacy within both historical and contemporary contexts. To this end, discussion on public diplomacy concept, the history of the Russian public diplomacy and a comparative analysis on the public diplomacy conducted by the Russian Federation with regards to the Ukrainian Crisis and Syrian Civil War will be presented. This thesis seeks to find out the main goal/theme of the public diplomacy conducted by the Russian Federation, the impact of the historical legacy of the Russian polity and the continuities therein. Within the framework of this thesis, it is argued that historically the main theme of public diplomacy conducted by the Russian polity is to mitigate the negative repercussions of its aggressive/expansionist policies. Impact of this historical legacy is also visible in the contemporary Russian public diplomacy. The comparative analysis conducted on the two recent cases showed that the main objective of public diplomacy implemented by the Russian Federation is to provide a justification for the re-emerging Russian assertiveness in the international arena.