ABSTRACT

This article argues that to capture Russia’s influence abroad, one needs to comprehend the country’s “gray diplomacy” as a neoliberal realm open to individual initiatives. We define “entrepreneurs of influence” as people who invest their own money or social capital to build influence abroad in hopes of being rewarded by the Kremlin . We test this notion by looking at both famous and unknown entrepreneurs of influence and their digital activities. We divide them into three broad categories based on their degree of proximity to the authorities: the tycoons (Yevgeny Prigozhin and Konstantin Malofeev), the timeservers (Alexander Yonov and Alexander Malkevich), and the frontline pioneers (the Belgian Luc Michel). An analysis of the technical data documenting their online activities shows that some of these initiatives, while inscribed into Moscow’s broad aspirations to great powerness, are based on the specific agendas of their promoters, and thus outlines the inherent limits of Moscow’s endeavors.

摘要

本文认为，要捕捉俄罗斯在国外的影响力，就需要将该国的“灰色外交”理解为一个对个人倡议开放的新自由主义领域。我们将“有影响力的企业家”定义为将自己的资金或社会资本投资于在国外建立影响力以期得到克里姆林宫奖励的人。我们通过查看具有影响力的著名和不知名企业家及其数字活动来检验这一概念。我们根据他们与当局的接近程度将他们分为三大类：大亨（Yevgeny Prigozhin 和 Konstantin Malofeev）、时间服务器（Alexander Yonov 和 Alexander Malkevich）和前线先驱（比利时人 Luc Michel）。对记录其在线活动的技术数据的分析表明，其中一些举措，