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When asked what face Moscow should present to the outside world, President Medvedev replied:
The one that I have now: a smiling face… We must not bare our teeth at anyone, get angry, sulk or feel offended, pushed into a corner… I would like to see Russia smiling and taking the face of a young modern person.
Will such a charm offensive work with the American public after decades of Cold War mistrust?
I went out with my camera and no videoediting skills to get a sample of what comes to Americans’ minds when they hear the word Russia.
While some of the replies are puzzling, I was surprised by how few are outwardly negative. In fact, Russia’s problem might be less about having a bad brand than about becoming irrelevant.
I recommend reading the rest of Michael Scott’s analysis of Russia’s new foreign policy orientation, which I think he gets spot on by quoting Dmitri Trenin:
The motto “Russia‘s business is business” first appeared in Putin’s second term from 2004-8.
“A lot of people thought (after the Georgia war) that Russia was in the business of… grabbing territory and invading neighbors,” he said.
“But they’re not interested in land-grabbing. They’re interested in succeeding in business the way they see business, that is the bunch of people who at the same time rule the country and own the country. Russia Inc. is them.”
But the real question is, how to get ordinary people in the West interested in Russia?