HOLY WAR: HOW PUTIN WEAPONIZED THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the role of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) as an instrument of Russian soft power in the Putin era. Soft power is a means to attract allies and support for a nation’s objectives in foreign policy. Russia has a dwindling number of soft power weapons, with the ROC being one of its most remaining prominent soft power assets. The relationship between the ROC and Kremlin is nuanced, both gaining legitimacy and authority from one another. They share a similar conservative worldview and the narrative of a Russian world, which is seen to be Russia’s prominent ideology exported in its perceived near abroad. Investigated in-depth in Ukraine, the ROC’s influence has met failure there, demonstrated by the schism between the ROC and the Ukraine Church. This is contrasted by its use in Georgia, where, owing to the warm relationship between the ROC and the Georgian Orthodox Church, influence via the ROC appears to have found a measure of limited success. However, Russia’s ability to exert soft power through the ROC appears to be waning overall, particularly after the church schism in Ukraine. Ultimately, the future of the ROC as a mechanism of Russia’s soft power remains in doubt.