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Russia’S 2020 Constitutional Amendments And The Entrenchment Of The Moscow Patriarchate As A Lever Of Foreign Policy Soft Power, Robert C. Blitt Jan 2022

Russia’S 2020 Constitutional Amendments And The Entrenchment Of The Moscow Patriarchate As A Lever Of Foreign Policy Soft Power, Robert C. Blitt

Book Chapters

Much has been written about the Kremlin’s embrace of the Russian Orthodox Church—Moscow Patriarchate (ROC) as a lever of soft power for advancing Russia’s foreign policy. Based on the substance of the constitutional amendments ratified in July 2020, this chapter reasons that the church-state partnership is poised to grow stronger and more entrenched in the coming years.

After briefly highlighting the energizing effect several key constitutional amendments are likely to have on existing Kremlin foreign policy objectives, this chapter offers an assessment of the ROC’s central role in disseminating and advocating these newly minted constitutional norms across its international platforms …