Intellectual Elites as a Target of the U.S. Public Diplomacy in the South Caucasus

The study focuses on American international exchange programs aimed at the intellectual elites from the areas of social sciences and humanities, specifically the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program (FVSP). Such intellectual elites potentially influence the opinions of students and younger generation in general; broadcast their views and values to political elites of their countries; shape dominating domestic approaches to research and education; and even create a wider social consensus over certain topics. Historic experience shows that the intensification of such activities in U.S. politics has always been prompted by the sense of a threat to national security. Thus, the increase of such programs aimed at the former Soviet republics following the collapse of the USSR is a manifestation of the same pattern with a possibility of Russia allying itself with other republics politically, economically and militarily being perceived as such a threat. Therefore, the core political reason behind those programs is to avoid such an undesirable scenario. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the participants in the FVSP from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan is conducted to illustrate how specifics and trends of the program’s implementation vary in different countries depending on the U.S. economic and geopolitical interests.