ABSTRACT
Joseph Nye developed the concept of soft power in the specific context of the western liberal framework. However, for a big power like Russia the basic source of its strength was reposed not in democratic governance, human rights protection, liberal economy and separation of religion and state but in multi-models of democracy that proffer a kind of global humanistic perspective having bearing on humanism, progress and human spirit. Furthermore, Russia considers the role of Orthodox Church as central to governance. Thus ‘moral politics’ carries more soft power than any form of western liberal paradigm.
