Between the EU, Russia, and China: Cultural diplomacy competition in Central Asia

This chapter analyses the cultural diplomacies of the European Union (EU), Russia, and China in Central Asia through the proposed tripartite framework. The Treaty of Maastricht of 1993 legitimised culture as a European policy area for the first time, as Article 167 recognises that the Union supports member states' cultural actions while respecting national and regional diversity. New opportunities for cultural relations with Central Asia may nevertheless arise from the 2019 revised Strategy, seeking to update existing cooperation between the EU and Central Asia. In Central Asia, the EU has not devised tools to assess perceptions through quantitative surveys or funded relevant organisations to conduct them. The Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation, commonly known as Rossotrudnichestvo, is today Russia's major Cultural diplomacy (CD) actor.