Vestnik RUDN. International RelationsVestnik RUDN. International RelationsВестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Международные отношения2313-06602313-0679федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Российский университет дружбы народов имени Патриса Лумумбы» (РУДН)4478510.22363/2313-0660-2025-25-2-267-283OJFZLTREGIONAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSРЕГИОНАЛЬНЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЙResearch ArticleThe Aga Khan, East Africa and Russia’s Image: Tracing the Lesser-Known Dimensions of the AKDN’s WorkАга-хан, страны Восточной Африки и образ России: некоторые аспекты деятельности АКДНhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3160-112X1011-2316NikolskayaMayya V.НикольскаяМайя Викторовна

Head, “Africa in the Focus of Russian Interests” Program, Institute of International Studies

руководитель программы Института международных исследований «Африка в фокусе российских интересов»

nikolskaya.m.v@my.mgimo.ruhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7458-10853506-7911VinogradovVasilii V.ВиноградовВасилий Валерьевич

Lecturer, Department of Applied Analysis of International Problems

преподаватель кафедры прикладного анализа международных проблем

v.vinogradov@inno.mgimo.ruMGIMO UniversityМГИМО МИД России28062025252The Difficult Path from Bipolarity to a Multipolar World Order: To the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic WarТрудный путь от биполярности к многополярному мироустройству: к 80-летию Победы в Великой Отечественной войне26728301072025Copyright ©; 2025, Nikolskaya M.V., Vinogradov V.V.Copyright ©; 2025, Никольская М.В., Виноградов В.В.Copyright ©; 2025, Nikolskaya M., Vinogradov V.2025Nikolskaya M.V., Vinogradov V.V.Никольская М.В., Виноградов В.В.Nikolskaya M., Vinogradov V.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0https://journals.rudn.ru/international-relations/article/view/44785

The study examines the role of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in shaping Russia’s image in East Africa. The AKDN is viewed as an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) in East Africa, whose stance on Russia currently coincides with that of the collective West. The authors proceed from the assumption that since 2022, the AKDN, in particular its media branch, the Nation Media Group , has sought to portray Russia in a negative light. The study consists of two sections. The first section provides an overview of the AKDN’s activities in East Africa since the emergence of Ismaili communities in the region and describes the key areas of its work on a country-by-country basis, as delineated on the official website of the organization. The analysis pays special attention to humanitarian, educational, and media projects, which give the organization more advantage in terms of shaping images, values, and ideas. After analyzing the activities of the AKDN, the authors conclude that the organization has built substantial social capital in East Africa through such development projects. The second section aims to verify the initial hypothesis of the AKDN’s anti-Russian slant through building a corpus of news items from outlets affiliated with the AKDN, using methodology for text analysis such as named entity recognition, LDA machine learning, and sentiment analysis of publications throughout the year 2023. The resulting tonality, topics and geographical coverage of the news publications allow the authors to conclude that the media do indeed construct a negative image of Russia in East Africa by invoking connotations of aggression, conflict and destabilization in Africa and the entire world, which may be caused by the AKDN’s orientation towards the West as well as differences between the AKDN and Russia’s positions in Central Asia. It is recommended that Russia take into account the power and resources that the AKDN employs in the information field.

Исследуется роль Организации развития Ага-хана ( Aga Khan Development Network , AKDN, АКДН) в формировании имиджа России в Восточной Африке. АКДН рассматривается как независимая неправительственная организация (НПО) в Восточной Африке, чья позиция в отношении России в настоящее время совпадает с позицией коллективного Запада. Авторы исходят из предположения о том, что с 2022 г. АКДН, в частности ее медиаподразделение Nation Media Group , направляет значительные усилия на формирование отрицательного имиджа России. Исследование состоит из двух частей. В первой части представлены обзор сетевой деятельности АКДН в Восточной Африке с момента появления исмаилитских общин в регионе и описаны основные направления этой деятельности с разбивкой по странам на основе официального сайта организации. Особое внимание уделено гуманитарным, образовательным и медийным проектам, которые дают организации больше рычагов влияния для формирования образов, ценностей и идей. Проанализировав деятельность АКДН, авторы приходят к выводу, что благодаря таким проектам по развитию организация сформировала солидный социальный капитал в Восточной Африке. Вторая часть призвана доказать исходную гипотезу об антироссийской направленности деятельности АКДН в регионе, для чего была создана база данных новостных изданий, аффилированных с организацией, использованы методы анализа текстов, такие как определение именованных сущностей, латентное размещение Дирихле и сентимент-анализ публикаций за 2023 г. Полученная тональность, тематики и географический охват новостей позволяют подтвердить, что исследованные СМИ формируют негативный образ России в Восточной Африке через ассоциативный ряд агрессии, конфликтов и дестабилизации в Африке и во всем мире, что может быть связано с ориентацией АКДН на страны Запада, а также несовпадением интересов АКДН и России в Центральной Азии. В связи с этим российской стороне рекомендуется учитывать то влияние и ресурсы, которые организация задействует в восточноафриканском информационном поле.

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