From James Sherr, Hard Diplomacy and Soft Coercion: Russia's Influence Abroad (2013), p. 90
Russian high culture in on a par with any other in the world. It is also Russia's purest soft power asset. The state's sponsorship of culture has paid handsome dividends abroad. But the political influence it derives from this fact is debatable. What is not debatable is the failure of many of Russia's neighbors to promote their comparatively more modest 'cultural resources'. Through the performing arts, exhibitions, literature and film, Russian delivers the message that the 'distinction between Russia and the West damages the West'. To audiences in the former USSR, Russian dominance of the arts delivers a message of cultural and political dominance."
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