Russia increasingly emphasises the importance of 'soft power' for securing its foreign policy interests, but recent research has paid more attention to Russia's intentions rather than to the receiving end of its cultural and public diplomacy. This volume seeks to address this gap and explore the specifics of both Russian language promotion and its acceptance in a number of case and country studies, including Ukraine, Germany and Ireland. A range of scholars discuss the legal status and the practical use of Russian for communication or media use, both in the 'near' and the 'far abroad', examining the politics of the Russian language, the role of the Russian Federation in influencing these politics and the challenges that the promotion of Russian faces in particular contexts across the globe. Christian Noack is associate professor with the chair group of East European Studies at the University of Amsterdam, where he also served as director of the Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies between 2015 and 2019. Cover image: from the project Artconstitution, 2003, Alexander Sigutin, used with the permission of the artist and S.ART (Petr Vois gallery) Cover design: Michael Chatfield [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-6379-9 Barcode

Christian Noack is Associate Professor and Director of the Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies at the University of Amsterdam