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2014 Asia and Africa today

ABOUT A NEW WORLD ORDER OR A BIG MESS by An.A.Gromyko, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Keywords: new world order, a big mess, globalization and global governance, spiritual life, the UN Charter
World public opinion has always been concerned with the problem: how to preserve peace on the planet Earth. To avoid the disaster we need to know what dangers threaten humanity, a separate country, people, and family. How to find the right way out of the maze of complex contradictions that span the world? It can be done also with the help of science, scientists, specialists for international affairs, the Russian Academy of Sciences, its centers such as the Department of global issues and international relations.
The article presents the statements of Russian scientists who provide balanced assessments of the modern world order.

AGGRESSIVE NON-STATE ACTORS OF GEOSTRATEGIC RIVALRY IN «ISLAMIC AFRICA» by L.L.Fituni, Dr.Sc. (Economics), I.O.Abramova, Dr.Sc. (Economics)
Keywords: the «Arab Spring», Russia, negative geopolitical consequences, basis of the phenomenon
Events of the «Arab Spring» led to significant shifts in the geo-strategic balance in the region, located near the southern borders of Russia. These changes are directly related to both the strategic interests of the Russian Federation and the actual practical problems of national security of our country. Besides the negative geopolitical consequences and fewer opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between the Russian Federation and the countries of Asia and Africa, those events provoked the increase of the external and internal threats, namely those posed by international terrorism, political, ethnic, religious and ideological extremism.
Over time, it becomes increasingly clear that the basis of the phenomenon of the «Arab Spring» is, on the one hand, the complex interplay of internal local socio- economic and political problems, and on the other - geostrategic rivalry for influence and dominance among the major world powers, among the regional government and non-state actors.

SUMMER WAR-2014 IN GAZA: THE NEW PAGE OF THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT by M.Yu.Borodina, A.A.Ermakov, I.V.Ryzhov, Dr.Sc. (History), Nizhny Novgorod State University
Keywords: State of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, the Gaza Strip, Hamas, «Islamic Jihad»
A characteristic feature of the Middle East conflict is that every «peaceful break», as a rule, results in a new round of armed confrontation. The Israeli operation «Enduring Rock» which began in the night of 7 to 8 July 2014 opened a new page in the conflict between the Jewish state and Palestinian extremists. Since the full implementation in the middle of the last decade of so-called unilateral disengagement plan, Israel carried out a series of operations against the combat units of the Gaza Strip, but the summer war in 2014 was the most violent.

ASIAN «EMERGING POWERS» DEVELOP EAST AFRICA: TANZANIA САSE by T.L.Deich, PhD (History), V.A.Usov, PhD (History)
Keywords: Tanzania, China, India, assistance, trade, investment, infrastructure, companies, projects
Situated on the shores of the Indian Ocean in East Africa region Tanzania has often attracted a lot of interest from different people and countries from the times immemorial due to its geographic location, extraordinary beauty of Tanzanian landscape and mild climate. Political stability and growth of its economy up to 6 per cent even in the period of global recession are Tanzanian additional great odds. Headquarter of East African Community is also located in the capital on Tanzania and the country serves as a natural bridge to the sea for some landlocked African countries, including Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Burundi.
However, Tanzania still depends on external assistance for 40 per cent. As a great part of its assistance has recently come from two Asian «emerging powers» - China and India, each country is actively trying to consolidate its grip on Tanzania’s economy.

MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN FRANCE: ISLAMIC IDENTITY AND SECULAR SOCIETY by B.V.Dolgov, PhD (History)
Keywords: Muslim community, integration, secular democracy, Islamic identity
Due to historical ties between France and the Maghreb countries (North Africa) the largest Arab- Muslim community among the countries of the European Union (EU) has developed nowhere else but in France. According to various sources, France is a home to 7,5 million Muslims (the population of France in 2008 totaled 64,5 million people. About 82% of them came from the Maghreb.
Most of the Muslim community in France preserves its Islamic identity. This is largely due to the French secular democracy, which gives everyone real right of freedom of conscience. However, full integration into society of Muslim migrants and their subsequent generations who were born in France and received French citizenship, did not happen.

ENERGY: THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE

RUSSIAN-INDIAN ENERGY COOPERATION: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS by I.V.Zeleneva, Dr.Sc. (History), St. Petersburg State University
Keywords: Indo-Russian energy cooperation, energy security, opportunities and threats of the energy dialogue, energy diplomacy
At the beginning of the XXI century India’s economy, which increases the demand for energy, its smooth, sufficient and safe shipping is growing quite rapidly. The Russian Federation can play an important role of the role of the India’s partner in the field of energy security. Mutually beneficial Russian-Indian cooperation is caused by the following factors.
To achieve national energy security, India is interested in a stable supply of oil and gas in the long term. That is why at any negotiations on trade with Russia, India gives the preference to the issue of the energy cooperation.
The nuclear power is playing a special role in the energy policy of India. The cooperation between India and Russia in this field is the most promising, because this cooperation has a developed regulatory framework and characterized by a long period of operation of joint projects.
Finally, the last but not the least is the fact that India is interested in Russian specialists working in the energy sector.

ON THE WAY TO A NEW MODEL OF AGRARIAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA by L.D.Bony, Dr.Sc. (Economics). Part 2
Keywords: reform, agrarian economic system, land system, farm economy forms, family farm, peasant cooperative, agricultural enterprises, collective ownership of land
The article deals with the problem of transition from the traditional agriculture of China to the modern one through its modernization, aiming at the creation of a new model of agrarian economic system by stimulating the land system reform in rural China. The land reform has to provide the development of a number of new forms of farming capable of cultivating modern and scaled agriculture (such as family farms, peasant cooperatives, agricultural enterprises, city industrial and commercial capital, etc.). Specifically to Chinese agriculture all this goes with the collective property in land in the rural areas and peasant family farmstead as the basis of the new type agrarian economic system.

CHRISTIANITY IN MODERN CHINA by S.A.Gorokhov, PhD (Geography)
Keywords: China, Christianity, revival, number of adherents, components of growth, spatial distribution
The article analyzes development of different orientation of Christianity in China. Current trends of confessional transformation under the influence of Christian revival are characterized. The dynamics of growth of number of Christian population are considered, the quantity of Christianity adherents in the country in 2010 is assessed. Components of Christian population growth are analyzed in detail. Spatial disparities in the distribution of Christians in China are discussed.

THE AIR WE BREATH WITH by Ye.K.Yelkina, Ye.A.Yelkina
Keywords: Africa, air quality, ecology, UN Environment Assembly, ocean pollution, illegal wildlife
The article discusses the agenda of the first session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, which was held in June 2014 in Nairobi. The main themes included poor air quality, especially in urban areas, and pollution of the world ocean with plastic waste. Particular attention was paid to such important issues for the African continent as illegal wildlife trade and desertification resulting from irrational felling.
The delegations of the UN member states emphasized that sustainable development of the entire world community is possible only with full integration of environmental, economic and social aspects of life.

RUSSIANS AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (CIS) CITIZENS IN KENYA TODAY: SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL PORTRAIT by M.L.Butovskaya, Dr.Sc. (History), R.O.Butovskiy, Dr.Sc. (Biology), Ye.V.Veselov- skaya, PhD (Biology)
Keywords: Africa, Russians, Kenya, social- psychological adaptation
The social-psychological adaptation of Russian migrants and their descendants in Kenya is studied. The data collected allowed us to conclude that Russians are well adapted to the unusual cultural and natural environment. They are characterized by high level of life activity and tolerance. The Russians which have settled in Kenya a long time ago are well-doing economically and socially and have sustainable social interactions with other Russians, Europeans and Africans. Many Russian men and women, living in Africa for a long time, have a high social position, being the owners of their own well-managed businesses. The specific peculiarities of Kenya in comparison with other African countries are discussed.

ZIMBABWE - CHINA: RISKS AND BENEFITS OF COOPERATION by E.R.Salakhetdinov
Keywords: Zimbabwe, China, international relations, investment, Mugabe
Speaking at celebration of the 25th anniversary of the independence of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said: «We turned to the East, where the sun rises, and turned our backs to the West, where the sun goes down».
Thus, Mugabe reaffirmed his commitment declared two years earlier to the policy of «Look East». The aim of this policy is to intensify partnerships with eastern countries and the reduction of economic dependence Zimbabwe on the Western states.
The main alternative partner country in the East became the People’s Republic, whose soft loans, investment, political and humanitarian support to a large extent helped Zimbabwe to overcome the negative effects of large-scale socio-economic crisis of the 1990s.
In the published article, the author traces the history of relations between the two countries, analyzes the nature of the collaboration and assesses the risks and benefits of partnership between Zimbabwe and China.

AFRICAN STUDENTS IN THE USSR: TWO DESTINIES, TWO CAREERS by N.L.Krylova, Dr.Sc. (History)
Keywords: African students in the USSR, higher education, student community, international education, racial conflicts, African fraternities, careers
African students, who have got education in the Soviet Union, are living and working today in all over the world. They are involved in joint ventures with the Europeans political, economic, scientific and cultural international projects, building a career, the basis for which was laid in Soviet universities. The article is about the features of the educational process in the former USSR, activities of daily living, as well as the formation of professional trajectories of two African students who studied in the USSR in the 1960s-1980s.

NEW YEAR’S TRADITIONS OF TUVINIANS OF CHINA by Zh.M.Yusha, PhD (Philology), Novosibirsk Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Keywords: Tuvinians of China, meeting of New Year, East lunar calendar, New Year’s traditions, mythological ideas, beliefs and taboo
The main stages (New Year’s Eve, a meeting of New Year) and structure of the New Year’s rituals which are carried out by the Chinese Tuvinians now are considered in the article on the basis of the new field materials of the author collected in 2010-2013. Semantics, symbolics of the mythological ideas connected with New Year’s ceremonialism, and also beliefs and taboo characteristic for this period are analyzed. Semantics of ceremonial actions is revealed, the role of verbal components in structure of New Year’s rituals is considered; purpose of festive food and furniture of dwellings of the Chinese Tuvinians is characterized. Presence of some borrowed elements at New Year’s traditions of the Chinese Tuvinians being characteristic for other ethnoses is revealed.

NEW SWAHILI LANGUAGE DICTIONARY OF THE 21st CENTURY by N.V.Gromova, Dr.Sc. (Philology)
Keywords: Africa, Tanzania, Swahili, Swahili language dictionaries
In 2013, in Tanzania the third edition of «The Dictionary of the Swahili Language» has been published. In 2014 it was republished in order to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Republic of Tanzania.
This dictionary (including all editions and reprints, which are discussed in the article) is very popular in the world. More than 2 mln copies have already been already sold. It is the evidence of the role and importance of this language not only in East Africa, but also far beyond its borders.

SWAHILI DICTIONARIES in the USSR and RUSSIA by O.I.Teterin, PhD (History)  
Keywords: Swahili in the USSR/Russia, dictionaries
The article touches upon Swahili dictionaries published in the USSR and Russia. Some of them had already become a rarity. The number of Russian lexicographers working on African languages is quite limited. As to Swahili, which in Tropical Africa  
boasts now at least 150 million out of 800 million, the very first “Swahili-Russian dictionary” was issued in 1961, then «Swahili-Russian dictionary” in 1978, compiled by lectures of  Institute of Oriental  Languages of Moscow State University. Altogether, there are 6 dictionaries, the last one was published in 2012.
Nowadays, Russia is seeking to regain and strengthen its positions in Africa.
Thus, it will hopefully require Africanists and lexicographical research on African languages, and the Swahili language in particular will be in demand.

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