"Asia and Africa today"
- is a scientificl monthly journal (in Russian)
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Included in Russian Science Citation Index on
WoS platform, and EBSCO Publishing.
ISSN 0321-5075. Published since July 1957.

 

 "Asia and Africa today" № 3 2013

 

asia afrika 3-2013s

 

 Top Problem

EGYPTIAN CONSTITUTION: ISLAMIC «YES» TO SECULAR «NO» by  A.M.Vasiliev, Academician, RAS, D.I.Vinitsky, staff correspondent in Cairo

Keywords:  Egypt, constitutional  declaration, Mohammed Mursi, Muslim Brotherhood

Two years after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak  in a revolution of January 25 Egypt remains to be an unpredictable country, recalling a raging  volcano, or, rather, a battleground.
«Muslim Brothers» are waging a brutal  struggle on the political and economic fields. They  are doing  their best to win the right to govern the largest state of the Arab world, trying to  prove   to  the   world   their  consistency and   moderation. However, they  don't deny  their goals  which  are  not  clear  to the international community.

 

 Policy, Economy

MONGOLIA.  DEMOCRATS  BACK IN  POWER  by M.I.Goleman, Dr.Sc. (History)

Keywords:  Mongolia, parliamentary elections, the Democratic Party,  the Mongolian People’s Party,  new government

In June 2012, elections to the State Great Hural took place in Mongolia. As a result  of the split of the ruling Mongolian People’s Party  (BNP) it was defeated. After a break of many years the Democratic Party  (DP) came into power. The first term  of the  Democrats in  office in  1996-1999 was  a failure. This time so far they  are acting successfully.

WOMEN’S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP  IN  ASIA  by A.A.SUVOROVA, Dr.Sc. (Philology)

Keywords:  Asia, charismatic leaders,  women’s gender role, political dynasties, inheritance of power

There are not so many families whose lives have been most directly  linked  to  the  history  of their  countries  - accept,  of course,  the  royal  dynasties. In contemporary history of Asia a unique role has been played  by such influential clans as Nehru- Gandhi, Bhutto,  Sukarno, Bandaranaike, Mujibur Rahman, Aquino and some others.
For many years these clans were determining the political course  of India,  Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri  Lanka,  Bangladesh and the Philippines.

SOUTH KOREAN TRILLION. SOME SOURCES AND CAUSES  OF IMPRESSIVE ECONOMIC SUCCESS OF THE  REPUBLIC OF KOREA by M.A.Morehodov

Keywords: The Republic  of Korea in the global economy system, innovative  technologies, investment climat, export capacity

In December  2011, the Republic  of Korea (ROK) joined the  club  of the  leading nations of the  world,  which  foreign trade  balance exceeded 33 руб. trillion,  and became a member of the  «community» of  the  most  developed economies in  the world.  It should  be noted  that  South  Korea  is the  smallest country  in this club. The size of its territory and population are second only to the Netherlands. And yet as far as variety of exports is concerned it firmly holds the third place among club memebers. According to this  indicator only Germany and  the Netherlands are ahead.

INDIA’S  POSITION IN WORLD EXPORTS OF SERVICES by N.V.Galishcheva, PhD (Economy). Part 2 (Part 1 in “Asia and Africa today”,  2013, № 2)
Keywords:   foreign   capital,  Indian  capital  market,  non- resident  deposits

The  article deals  with   the  main  aspects of  the  foreign capital’s inflow to the Indian  economy in the form of non- resident deposits. The author analyses the evolution of Indian government’s policy  towards foreign  capital in  the  form  of non-resident deposits. The data are given on volumes and structure of the non-resident deposits to India.

SCHOOL IN KENYA: ROLE OF INITIATIVE «FROM BELOW» by N.F.Matveeva

Keywords:  Kenya,  education, harambee schools,  informal schools, slums

On  the  eve of independence of Kenya (1963) there were 6.000  primary  schools  for  Africans  with  an  enrollment of 890.000  children, and  about 150  secondary school  with  only 31.000 students, 80,5% of the population  was illiterate. Currently in Kenya there are  over  20.000  primary and  more than 6.000 secondary schools,  which  educate, respectively, 8,8 million and 1,4 million children. The literacy rate now is 85%.

CHRISTIANITY IN TROPICAL AFRICA by L.A.Andreeva, Dr.Sc. (Philosophy)

Keywords:  religion,  Christianity, Sub-Saharan Africa

The history of Christianity in Africa has about two millennia. Its distribution began in the II century AD in Egypt and Ethiopia.  The main event of the early expansion of Christianity was formation in the IV century AD the so called Monophysite Church, which  united Christians of Egypt and Ethiopia.  The next  stage is associated  with  the beginning  of the Christianization in the XV century  as a result of colonial expansion  of the  Catholic   Portuguese. But  only  from  the middle of XIX  century, when  European countries began colonization of vast African  territories, one could  speak  of the mass  conversion  of the  local  population   into  Christianity.

 

 Point of View

HENRY KISSINGER ON  PAST AND FUTURE OF AMERICAN-CHINESE RELATIONS by V.I.Trifonov

Keywords: Kissinger, Nixon, Mao  Zedong, China, USA, Soviet Union, policy of PRC, American-Chinese relations

The article  analyses the book by the former Secretary  of State  of the USA Henry  Kissinger “On China” which in itself is a solid scientific work on the development of American- Chinese relations after  the formation of PRC and on the most important stages  of the  policy  of China. The  book  is constructed in geopolitical manner, from the  point of view of the  struggle of  the  main  world   powers   -  the  USA,  Soviet Union (at the period under review) and China - to secure their leading positions in the world.
Considerable part  of the book is dedicated  to the presentation of the modalities of American-Chinese rapprochement during 70-s of the  last century. Kissinger personally played an important role in that process, not concealing  his  sympathy towards  China.  He   stresses that relations between the USA and China, built on the basis of cooperation, “are necessary for the  global  stability and  peace”. But,  as  the  author of the  article points, in  fact  the  relations between two sides took another  scenario. We are witnessing an aggravation of confrontation between China and the USA which adopted the course of comprehensive “containment”  of PRC.

AFGHAN  STRATEGY OF B.OBAMA ADMINISTRATION by Sh.I.Akmalov, PhD (Political Sciences)

Keywords: Afghanistan,  B.Obama Administration, Afghan Strategy of the US, Regional Security, Terrorism, Geopolitical Perspectives

The paper examines problems and positive aspects of the Afghan  strategy of the  Obama Administration in the  context of the  plans of US military  withdrawal from Afghanistan  in
2014. The USA in its Afghan policy pays attention not only to security  issues,  but  also  to  problems  of political  future  of Afghan state, its social and economic development.  Nowadays realities in Afghanistan prove  the  necessity of alternative effective ways of its salvation, which would consider problems of security and  sustainable development of the  Afghan  state and society.

 

 Post-Graduate Column

RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINA  AND SAUDI ARABIA by M.A.Pakhomova

Keywords: Chinese impact, Saudi Arabia, Middle East, diplomatic relations, economic statistics

The   main   stages   and   future  perspectives  of  relations between China and Saudi Arabia are examined as an example of Chinese influence in the Middle East. The analysis is based on  official   data   from   Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs   of  the People’s Republic of China and Chinese, Arabian, Europe and Russian publications in  press.  The  paper  presents some  new information  about Chinese policy in the region.

YEMEN: FACTORS  OF  POLITICAL  INSTABILITY by V.P.Kirichenko

Keywords: Yemen, political crisis, Zaydis, Shafiis, tribalism, al-Qaeda

This article analyses the causes of political crisis in Yemen that took  place  in  2011-2012. In  the  author’s opinion, the crisis was mainly caused by the aggravation  of social and economic problems such as demographic  explosion and increasing unemployment in Yemen. As the political power is actually controlled by  the  Hashid tribes’  confederation, the relations between the  diverse Yemeni  tribes grew worse. However, differences between two Islamic confessions presented   in  Yemen  are  not  the  core  reason  of  growing political disturbances. The latters  are promoted  mainly by branches  of  al-Qaeda  which   have   lately   intensified  their activity in the Arabian Peninsula.

 

 From Our Own Correspondent

RUSSIAN BIOLOGICAL EXPEDITION: MORE THAN A QUARTER CENTURY OF SCIENTIFIC WORK IN ETHIOPIA by A.N.Bragin

Keywords:  Russian-Ethiopian scientific cooperation,  Joint Russian-Ethiopian biological expedition

In  November 2012  the  ten-days Festival of the  Russian- Ethiopian scientific  cooperation  in the  field of biology took place in Addis Ababa. The event was dedicated  to the 125th anniversary of Academician Vavilov’s  birth day, the  85th anniversary  of his scientific expedition to Abyssinia, as well as the 25th anniversary of the Joint Russian-Ethiopian biological expedition, which is a good example of successful scientific cooperation  between the two countries.

 

 Scientific Life

XI SCHOOL OF  YOUNG  RUSSIAN AFRICANISTS by N.A.Zherlitsina

Annual Scientific Conference - School  for young Africanists («Problems of African  Studies in Russia  and abroad»)  was held on 14-15 November 2012 in Kazan. At the invitation of the Institute of Oriental Studies  and International Relations, Kazan (Volga) Federal University 62 people  participated in the  conference - students, postgraduates and young scientists from universities and academic institutes  of  Moscow,   Kazan,   St.  Petersburg and Yaroslavl.
This conference  is a traditional forum, conducted by the Institute for African  Studies of the  Russian Academy of Sciences  (RAS)   and  the   Scientific   Council   on  African countries of RAS in Moscow,  with  the  assistance of the  RAS Presidium Program «Support for Young  Scientists» in collaboration with  universities  of various Russian cities. The main purpose of the “school” is to attract possibly  widest range of young African researchers and to support  scientific activity in this  sphere  of domestic science.

 

 History

WITH DREAMS, DICTIONARY AND BRAVERY by O.Yu.Kuzmin, O.V.Zhukov. Part 2 (Part 1 in “Asia and Africa today”, 2013, № 2)

Keywords:  Afghanistan, Mali, Soviet military interpreters

In this and previous issue of our magazine we offer to our readers the  memories of people  who  had  the  opportunity to work as a military translators in different parts of the world.
The material  is given in the form of a story  in which the authors tell about their work in Afghanistan in 1979-1980 and in the Republic  of Mali in 1982-1983, as well as about  their experiences of these  countries, working weekdays, some customs and daily life of the people they met with.

 

 Book Review

MONOGRAPH «ISLAM IN RUSSIA» by M.N.Gusev
The largest  Indonesian publishing  house «Compass»  has published  a monograph  «Islam  in Russia»,  written by  Aji Surya, cultural advisor to the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow.
The  author points out  that despite the  vast  distances that separate  Russia and Indonesia  the Muslims of both countries have  much  in  common:  they  enjoy  special  respect  to  the Maskhab  teaching  and  its preacher  Shafii, their  prayers  are also very similar  in content and method of reading. When the Russian clergy   come  to  Indonesia, their message  is  not  in conflict with rules and norms of Indonesian Muslims, they do not cause unwanted reactions  of the faithful.
Aji Surya expresses the opinion that  the Russian Muslim community is  still  in  the  making   after   the  collapse   of  the Soviet Union and  did  not  develop a common vision  on  the development of Islam in a huge multi-ethnic and multi- religious country.  And that  is quite understandable.

SCIENTIFIC MONOGRAPH WITH «JOURNA- LISTIC ACCENT» by N.I.Petrov

Professor at the National Research University «Higher School of Economics»  I.I.Filatova and professor at the same university academician A.B.Davidson have  published a book
«Russia and  South  Africa: building bridges»  (Publishing House of the  Higher School  of Economics, Moscow,  2012) - nearly 500 pages.
The authors  have given the story of not only relations between the  two  countries «at  the  official  level»,  but  also speak  about  cooperation   with  South   African  political  and public  organizations (primarily about relations with  the African National Congress - ANC and the South African Communist Party   -  SACP).  About  military  assistance  the Soviet Union provided to  the  South African  anti-apartheid fighters and their allies.
Hundreds of the ANC activists were trained at the Soviet universities and military academies. Many bright and even something touching  episodes are given in the chapter  devoted to life of those  young  South Africans  in our  country. For  the most   part   they   were  coming   to  the  «land   of  Lenin» with exceptional  excitement.  As  a  rule   they   met   a  warm   and gracious welcome  at all levels.

 

 Summary