This issue is the third for 2023 and the 13th since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. This issue is about a double language and a double game. “Smart power” is sometimes ambiguous – an effective strategy of influence aims to convince and win membership (Ukrainian example), not to brutalize and play a curious game of dupes (Russian example). The approach suggested by American researcher Joseph Nye (already mentioned in the December 2022 - issue 10 of our newsletter- “The shadow of a doubt”) is still relevant to the evolution of the conflict. It is surprising to see the same behaviour of defiance, coercion and even brutality when they have not succeeded in the past years. In the face of so much misunderstanding, of a feeling of dialogue of the deaf or of a broken record “never ending story”, we can wonder about the opportunity and relevance of such a game of dupes.
1- Ambiguity of “smart power”
2- A retrograde and reactionary smart power in Russia
3- A “smart power” building and looking to the future in Ukraine
4- Who benefits from the crime?