Foreign education of Tajik youth as a two-way resource of soft power

• Main Authors: Rizoyon, Sh.Sh.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Publishing House Discourse-P 2021-03-01
• Series: Дискурс Пи
• Subjects: migration; educational migration; soft power of tajikistan; public diplomacy; culture; values
• Online Access: http://madipi.ru/images/uploads/158-175_Ризоён.pdf

The article analyzes Tajik youth studying abroad as a component of soft power for both the host country and Tajikistan. On one hand, it is argued that today, the attraction of foreign students by many states is seen as a tool to strengthen their soft power. On the other hand, since students are bearers of their culture, living and studying abroad serves as an opportunity to present the cultural and humanitarian characteristics of the students' native country. Upon returning home, their experience studying abroad will certainly affect their preferences, views, outlooks, including models for expanding external relations. Based on field and online research on young people in Tajikistan and abroad, the author puts forward a number of theses on the stages of external migration, including the positive and negative aspects of this trend. An attempt is made to comprehensively analyze the external educational migration of young people at this stage, and forecast a possible trend in the development of the situation in the medium term. The novelty of the study lies in it centering attention on the factor of external educational migration as a two-level resource of soft power both for host states and for Tajikistan, which has not been previously considered. Based on the analysis, the final section notes that external educational accounts for 10% of total youth migration, and in the medium term it is expected to rise due to the increase of state quotas and scholarship programs. Competition for lucrative professional positions is one of the main motives and drivers of youth migration. The participation of youth in communities in Russia and other countries allows for the expansion of the possibilities of Tajik public diplomacy.