Discursive Construction of Global Political Actors in Russia and the USA

This paper presents a detailed study of the discursive construction of "Global Political Actors" within the frameworks of Russian and American public diplomacy. The work delves into the theoretical and practical aspects of contemporary public diplomacy, the concept of global political actors, and notions of world order, utilizing a comprehensive methodological approach that includes critical discourse analysis of texts and speeches from political representatives of both nations. The research aims to identify changes in the public diplomacy of the USA and Russia over the past 12 years, focusing on the use of "soft power" and "sharp power" tactics, as well as the organizational structures of public diplomacy institutions in each country. This temporal period was chosen primarily due to a new phase in the use of soft power and the development of public diplomacy in both countries, dating back to 2012. Five publications of speeches by representatives were selected for each year. The study analyzes six key global actors: Russia, the USA, China, BRICS, the EU, and the Islamic world. Thus, the empirical base of the work consists of 120 texts, with 60 texts representing each of the Russian and American sides respectively. The methodology of this study consists of three main stages. The first stage involves conducting Critical Discourse Analysis of 20% of all selected texts using a methodology developed by Norman Fairclough. During this phase, certain linguistic, semantic, and discursive constructs are identified, which are later transformed into codes for conducting the next level of analysis. The second stage of analysis consists of conducting content analysis of the remaining 80% of the empirical base. The third and final stage of the research aims to systematize the results of the coding of texts in a unified table. he findings indicate that the construction of world order in Russia is not entirely opposite to its construction in the USA. This hypothesis holds true for several actors. China, the European Union, and the Islamic world are constructed diametrically opposite in the two countries.