Historical Experience of the Practice of “Soft Power” on the Example of the Activities of the Soviet Committee for the Defense of Peace

The article examines the history of the creation and activities of the Soviet Committee for the Defense of Peace (SPC) as a key institution of the Soviet “people’s diplomacy” and an example of the practice of “soft power” in the international policy of the state. Based on the analysis of historiographical material and sources, the stages of the development of scientific interest in the Committee are highlighted: from propaganda publications in the 1950s to interdisciplinary research in the 2010s and 2020s. It is established that the SCM acted as an instrument of foreign policy propaganda of the USSR, at the same time accumulated the intellectual and cultural potential of the country and actively participated in international campaigns for peace and disarmament. It is shown that the rhetoric of the Committee evolved from the mobilization pacifism of the beginning of the Cold War to the ideas of the “new political thinking” of the late 1980s. Particular attention is paid to the role of the scientific and creative elite in legitimizing the activities of the Soviet Committee for the Defense of Peace, as well as the continuity of its experience in modern Russian structures of “soft power”. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the transformation of research approaches and the importance of studying the Soviet Committee for the Defense of Peace for understanding the mechanisms of strategic communication of the state.