Formats of Russia’s Network Diplomacy in Africa

The relevance of the study is due to the need to rethink the role of new formats of diplomatic interaction considering the deepening cooperation between Russia and Africa, new trends in international relations (such as increased involvement in cooperation of representatives of multilateral associations and non-governmental actors, securitization of new sectors of world politics). The purpose of this article is to show how the tools of Russia’s network diplomacy can be used to strengthen partnerships between the Russian Federation and African states in various areas - political, economic and humanitarian. At the same time, the author emphasizes that the formats of network diplomacy at both the global (BRICS, G20) and regional (Russia - Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, thematic working groups and, in the future, formats for the settlement of military-political conflicts) levels can act only as auxiliary tracks, without replacing traditional channels of diplomacy (summits, ministerial meetings and working diplomatic contacts). The works of Russian and foreign experts revealing the theoretical foundations of network diplomacy (Morozov, Lebedeva, Burganova, Metzl, Slaughter, etc.) as well as those devoted to the analysis of Africa’s positions in the system of international relations (Harberson, Rothschild, Kortunov, etc.) were useful for the current study. It was carried out based on structural-systemic and historical-comparative research methods. The uniqueness of the article lies in the fact that the author assesses the prospects for the development of existing formats of network diplomacy taking into account Russia’s strategic foreign policy priorities in Africa and suggests ways to develop new formats of network interaction that would contribute to the resolution of key military-political and socio-economic problems of the region.