Written by: Chloe Baldauf; Edited by: Luke Wagner
On Wednesday, Chad’s interim leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin to discuss growing Russian-Chadian relations. During the talks, General Deby called the visit “history-making” and expressed his hopes to strengthen bilateral ties.
In a transcript from the Kremlin website, Putin addressed the growth of “humanitarian ties” between the two countries, remarking that Moscow “doubled the quota” for Chadian students to study in Russia on scholarship and that he intends to double it again. Putin next spoke of growing interest in Russian education among young Chadians and affirmed Moscow’s intent to cooperate on the growth of educational opportunities.
Educational diplomacy is commonly understood as a type of “soft diplomacy” that “builds mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships between countries.” Russia has placed increasing emphasis on strengthening humanitarian ties through investment in Africa, which was a central topic at last year’s Russia-Africa Summit.
At the last year’s summit, Putin declared his intent to “significantly increase” the number of African students in Russian higher education institutions. Specifically, he proposed building ties between sports universities and encouraging more student exchange. Putin also commented during the summit that Moscow sought deeper cooperation with Africa in the field of mass communications – starting with “the exchange of content [and] organization of training courses for media personnel and students.”
Educational diplomacy in Africa has become an issue of significance in the diplomatic sphere recently. Luke Williams, Australia’s high commissioner, called education exchange “the bedrock” of Australia’s relations with Africa.
As tensions brew in Chad over the legitimacy of current leader Deby’s interim presidency, it is unclear how growing Russian interest in Chad’s education sector will affect voter attitudes. If Deby manages to emerge victorious from the October election, it is likely that Russia will continue efforts to gain influence in the country as it strives toward great-power status at the expense of destabilization.