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<article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.2" xml:lang="en"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">RUDN Journal of Political Science</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title xml:lang="en">RUDN Journal of Political Science</journal-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title>Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Политология</trans-title></trans-title-group></journal-title-group><issn publication-format="print">2313-1438</issn><issn publication-format="electronic">2313-1446</issn><publisher><publisher-name xml:lang="en">Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN University)</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">48025</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.22363/2313-1438-2025-27-4-931-944</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="edn">FQTWNB</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="toc-heading" xml:lang="en"><subject>RUSSIA AND AFRICA</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="toc-heading" xml:lang="ru"><subject>РОССИЯ И АФРИКА</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="article-type"><subject>Research Article</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title xml:lang="en">Formats of Russia’s Network Diplomacy in Africa</article-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title>Форматы сетевой дипломатии России в Африке</trans-title></trans-title-group></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0378-363X</contrib-id><name-alternatives><name xml:lang="en"><surname>Bulva</surname><given-names>Valeriia I.</given-names></name><name xml:lang="ru"><surname>Булва</surname><given-names>Валерия Игоревна</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="en"><p>PhD (History), employee</p></bio><bio xml:lang="ru"><p>кандидат исторических наук, сотрудник</p></bio><email>va.i.bulva@my.mgimo.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"/></contrib></contrib-group><aff-alternatives id="aff1"><aff><institution xml:lang="en">Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation</institution></aff><aff><institution xml:lang="ru">Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации</institution></aff></aff-alternatives><pub-date date-type="pub" iso-8601-date="2025-12-31" publication-format="electronic"><day>31</day><month>12</month><year>2025</year></pub-date><volume>27</volume><issue>4</issue><issue-title xml:lang="en">Politics in Africa and Africa in Politics</issue-title><issue-title xml:lang="ru">Политика в Африке и Африка в политике</issue-title><fpage>931</fpage><lpage>944</lpage><history><date date-type="received" iso-8601-date="2026-01-12"><day>12</day><month>01</month><year>2026</year></date></history><permissions><copyright-statement xml:lang="en">Copyright ©; 2025, Bulva V.I.</copyright-statement><copyright-statement xml:lang="ru">Copyright ©; 2025, Булва В.И.</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2025</copyright-year><copyright-holder xml:lang="en">Bulva V.I.</copyright-holder><copyright-holder xml:lang="ru">Булва В.И.</copyright-holder><ali:free_to_read xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/"/><license><ali:license_ref xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0</ali:license_ref></license></permissions><self-uri xlink:href="https://journals.rudn.ru/political-science/article/view/48025">https://journals.rudn.ru/political-science/article/view/48025</self-uri><abstract xml:lang="en"><p>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.</p></abstract><trans-abstract xml:lang="ru"><p>Актуальность исследования обусловлена необходимостью переосмысления роли новых форматов дипломатического взаимодействия с учетом углубляющегося сотрудничества России и Африки, новых тенденций в сфере международных отношений (таких как повышение вовлеченности в сотрудничество со стороны представителей многосторонних объединений и неправительственных сторон, секьюритизация новых отраслей мировой политики). Цель исследования - показать, каким образом инструменты сетевой дипломатии России могут быть использованы для укрепления партнерства Российской Федерации и африканских государств на различных направлениях - политическом, экономическом и гуманитарном. При этом автором подчеркивается, что форматы сетевой дипломатии как глобального (БРИКС, «Группа двадцати»), так и регионального (экономический и гуманитарный форум «Россия - Африка», тематические рабочие группы и в перспективе - форматы по урегулированию военно-политических конфликтов) уровней могут выступать только в качестве вспомогательных треков, не подменяя традиционные каналы дипломатии (саммиты, министерские встречи и оперативные дипломатические контакты). При подготовке работы полезными оказались работы российских и зарубежных экспертов, раскрывающие теоретические основы сетевой дипломатии (Морозов, Лебедева, Бурганова, Метцль, Слотер и др.), а также посвященные анализу позиций Африки в системе международных отношений (Харберсон, Ротшильд, Кортунов и др.). Исследование выполнялось с опорой на структурно-системный и историко-сравнительный методы исследования. Уникальность статьи состоит в том, что по результатам исследования автор оценивает перспективы развития действующих форматов сетевой дипломатии с учетом стратегических внешнеполитических приоритетов России в Африке, а также предлагает пути развития новых форматов сетевого взаимодействия, которые способствовали бы разрешению ключевых военно-политических и социально-экономических проблем региона.</p></trans-abstract><kwd-group xml:lang="en"><kwd>network diplomacy</kwd><kwd>BRICS</kwd><kwd>G20</kwd><kwd>Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum</kwd></kwd-group><kwd-group xml:lang="ru"><kwd>сетевая дипломатия</kwd><kwd>БРИКС</kwd><kwd>«Группа двадцати»</kwd><kwd>экономический и гуманитарный форум «Россия-Африка»</kwd></kwd-group><funding-group/></article-meta><fn-group/></front><body></body><back><ref-list><ref id="B1"><label>1.</label><citation-alternatives><mixed-citation xml:lang="en">Burganova, I.N. (2016). 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