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2015 Asia and Africa today

TIME-TESTED UNION. INDO-RUSSIAN ECONOMIC COOPERATION by N.V.Galishcheva, Dr.Sc. (Economics). Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). Part 1
Keywords: India’s economy, foreign policy of India, Indo-Russian trade and economic cooperation
In December 1991, The Republic of India was one of the first countries which recognized the Russian Federation as a state – «successor» of the former USSR, with which India has had diplomatic relations since the April 13, 1947.
For several decades the Soviet Union was providing to India significant financial and technical assistance, helping in the construction of large industrial enterprises, including steel plants at Bhilai, Bokaro, etc. In addition, the USSR supplied military equipment to India. Аs to the USSR, India was an important economic partner, which, on the one hand, was considered as an exporter of clothing, textiles, tea and other consumer goods, and on the other - as a kind of tool to spread the Soviet influence in the South Asian region.

HAMAS’s UNDERGROUND WAR IN THE GAZA STRIP by A.A.Ermakov, Post-graduate student. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod
Keywords: HAMAS, «Hezbollah», Israel Defense Forces, the Gaza Strip
The article outlines the development of military capabilities of the radical Palestinian movement, HAMAS, in the territory of the Gaza Strip. HAMAS effectively used the experience of military wing of Shiite organization «Hezbollah». The author underlines that during 2006-2014 the military capabilities of militants of HAMAS in the Gaza Strip increased tremendously.
The missile armament became the main military instrument of the Palestinian radicals. In addition HAMAS created powerful underground infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Israel failed to prevent the growth of the military tension in the Gaza Strip.

CHINA. ECOLOGY: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES by E.I.Kranina, PhD (Economics). Institute of Far East, RAS
Keywords: environmental factor, extensive development, innovative technologies, green revolution
China is the third largest country by territory and the most populated country in the world. It’s also one of the world leaders in consumption of resources and environmental pollution. That’s why an analysis of the impact of environmental factors on the socio-economic development of is currently gaining a particular significance.
According to theoretical calculations and accumulated empirical data China nowadays is at a dangerous stage of development which is characterized by an inevitable deterioration of the environmental situation. Whether China succeed to overcome the current negative trend or not? What are the methods of solving the urgent problems of the country offered by its leadership?
These are the questions considered in the article.

UNIVERSITIES IN JAPAN: FACE TO FACE TO GLOBALIZATION by L.V.Zhilina, PhD (History). Omsk State University
Keywords: Japan, universities, globalization, World University Rankings
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the current problems which the Japanese Universities, the Japanese High Education as a whole confronts with. The major attention is paid to the situation with the Japanese national and private universities which go thru not only increased international competition brought by globalization, but also by new economical and demographical context.

MONGOLIA. NOMADS IN THE CITY by V.I.Terentyev, Post-graduate student. Gorno- Altayisk State University
Keywords: Mongolia, Ulan Bator, nomads, space, migration, ethnicity
The author analyzes the Mongolian’s nomadic culture and specificity of its adaptation to urban conditions. The analysis is based upon of author’s personal field observations. Moving to a permanent place of residence, to the capital of Mongolia - Ulan Bator - yesterday’s nomads bring with them ideological and personal stereotypes.
He studies the nomads’ ways of understanding urban space and the ways they develop a new orientation system. Nowadays they find themselves in a cramped city (in terms of a nomad) and that makes them to refuse from the former sub-ethnic identity in favor of nationwide one.

WATER ISSUES

HOW TO SAVE INDIAN RIVERS by V.P.Kashin, PhD (History). Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS
Keywords: India, Ganges, Jumna, contamination, Taj Mahal
On the example of the Jumna (Yamuna), the right tributary of the Ganges, the author raises issues specific for many Indian rivers. One of the main problems is contamination and shallowing. Further agony of Jumna threatens also  to  destroy the  world-famous architectural monument Taj Mahal.

U.S. DOUBLE STANDARDS ALL OVER THE WORLD by N.A.Listopadov, Dr.Sc. (History). Second Department of Asian Countries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Keywords: USA, Russia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, the Ukrainian crisis, double standards, Islam, Buddhism
Dramatic events in Ukraine clearly demonstrate double standards of the United States and its allies in politics, as it was in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Yugoslavia. Unceremonious American intervention under the pretext of defending democracy leads to destabilization, division and bloodshed which finally resulted everywhere in the so called «controlled chaos». The Western countries continue to play the «Islamic card». In recent years, the West began to talk a lot about the persecution of Muslims in Buddhist countries which is ostensibly taking place in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.

CHANGE OR CONTINUITY? POLITICAL TRANSITION AND DEMOCRACY IN KENYA by Dr. Alice J.Kurgat, Prof. Leonard S.Mulongo, Patrick M.Kerre. Moi University (Kenya)
Keywords: Kenya, legitimacy, political transition, democracy
This article attempts to investigate and analyze challenges and prospects facing Kenya in its quest for democratization and construction of a viable state and cohesive society. Kenya before the post-2007 general election was viewed as an oasis of peace in a turbulent region, a situation that was enabled by stalled political transitions that never before turned to widespread violence.
Transitional politics in Kenya have been deeply polarized along regional and more prominently ethnic lines. The questions this article is seeking to investigate are: what impact has the political systems and the civil society had in promoting the values of compromise conciliation, consensus building and tolerance in an ethnically polarized society. Has the civil society been partisan or neutral to ethnic interests? How and when do civil societies become engaged in politics? Can it be an integrative force in nation (state) building?

«KWIBUKA-20». Memory of the genocide, debates, discussions by A.A.Panov, Young Fellow Researcher. Institute for African Studies, RAS
Keywords: Rwandan, Tutsi, genocide, Kigali
The article contains the author’s brief report on the events held in Kigali, Rwanda on April 2014, coincided with the 20th anniversary of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. He presents his impressions on the International Forum «After Genocide: Examining legacy, taking responsibility»; evenings and presentations devoted to reflections on the memory on genocide in literature and theatre; national ceremony of the genocide commemoration in the «Amahoro» stadium in Kigali; and the Rwandan youth initiative «Walk to Remember».

OUR INTERVIEW

«OTHER ACTIVITY» OF THE STATE MUSEUM OF ORIENTAL ARTS by K.V.Meshcherina, Institute for African Studies, RAS, and N.I.Petrov
Keywords: Museum of Oriental Arts in Moscow, A.V.Sedov, museum collection, scientific and publishing activities
It is an interview with Alexander Sedov, Director of the State Museum of Oriental Arts in Moscow. Besides the fact that this museum - a well-known cultural and educational center (this is its «main activity»), it is also a major center that performs extensive researches, organizes archaeological expeditions, publishes monographs and other books. Such is its «other activity», which A.V.Sedov said to the journalists of «Asia and Africa today» journal.

POST-GRADUATE COLUMN

NIGERIA. THE 2011 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND YORUBA MUSIC by N.A.Zakharova. Yaroslavl State University
Keywords: Nigeria, protest music, elections, Yoruba, Goodluck Jonathan, Fela Kuti
Yoruba is one of the largest nationalities in Nigeria. Its music has a number of important functions in the social and political life of society. For centuries, it was playing an important role as means of transmitting information and traditional culture. In the country where the average age of the citizens is 19 years, the basic structure of the electorate are young people who are receptive to the views of their music idols.
The presidential election of 2011 and active participation of musicians in those elections, indicates that the status of the musician has a special significance in political life and politics.

GENDER INEQUALITY IN COUNTRIES OF SUBSAHARIAN AFRICA by N.V.Grishina, PhD (History). Institute for African Studies, RAS
Keywords: Africa, gender inequality, social problems, education, health service
The article gives a characteristic of unequal access of persons of different gender to education and health services in some African countries. It is important to note that gender inequality exists in most spheres of life in modern Africa, exerting negative influence upon the social development as well as the political landscape and the economic growth. It is also underlined that female education is a key factor not only in terms of development personality, but also in terms of eliminating of poverty.
The gender inequality affects seriously not only Millenium Development Goal 3 (MDG-3), which poses the objective of eliminating gender inequality in education, but also MDG-4 (children’s health) and MDG-5 (mothers’ health). In African countries which had, before the crisis of 2008, problems related to high rates of child mortality and a low level of female education, women and girls face the most serious consequences of economic shocks.

BETWEEN IDEOLOGY AND OBJECTIVITY by N.A.Zherlitsina, PhD (History). Institute for African Studies, RAS
Keywords: Tunisia, Russian-Tunisian relations, mutual perception, ideological confrontation, formation of image stereotypes, propaganda press
The «Asia and Africa Today» journal was established in the period of active development of anti- colonial movement on the African continent and now it is a valuable source, allowing to trace the evolution of ideas about the studied countries. This article is based on the analysis of publications of this journal on a subject of Tunisia in 1960-1990 years.
Special attention is given to tools and techniques used by journalists to create an attractive image of the country and its inhabitants.

MUSEUMS IN JAPAN AS A NEW SOCIAL SPACE by M.P.Gerasimova, PhD (Philology). Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS
Keywords: museum, exhibition, collection, art, artistry, a social space
The museum institution in Japan has a relatively short history - first museums here were established only in the second half of the XIX century. The reason for this can be found in the peculiarities of the national worldview, due to which there was no the precondition for the formation of collections, which in Western countries usually became the basis for the creation of museums.
In Japan with its well-established hierarchical system and regulated relations between people of different classes it was extremely important, because it contributed to the establishment of a new type of relationship between people regardless of their origin or social status on the basis of common interests.

PALESTINE IN THE INDONESIAN POETRY by Yu.I.Noskov, Writer
Keywords: Indonesian poetry, Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Indonesia has perennial fraternal relations with Palestine which is fighting for many years with Israeli aggressors who occupied Palestine. The modern Indonesian poetry reflects the suffering of Palestinians from Israeli oppression, expresses solidarity with the Palestinian people, the willingness of Indonesian Muslims to help Palestine.
Particularly known and popular works of such Indonesian poets as Taufik Ismail and Helvi Tiana Rosa.

MEET ME AND «DO NOT JUDGE ME SEVERELY»: IMAN NASIRI by S.V.Prozhogina, Dr.Sc. (Philology). Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS
Keywords: Modern Moroccan literature, Iman Nasiri, a collection of short stories, «Do not judge me harshly»
The first collection of short stories of Iman Nasiri was named «Do not judge me severely». Iman Nasiri belongs to generation of the «new women» of Morocco, who believe that education for women just as vital in the modern Muslim society, as it’s for men, that for women work is important both for themselves and for their families, their children, that it opens the door to the world both for herself and for her man.
Iman Nasiri is a vivid example of the intelligent and talented women of Morocco (and our magazine has already had the honor to present a lot of their names), who join the ranks of modern writers.

ABOUT A  LITTLE-KNOWN FEAT by N.I.Petrov
During the Soviet era tens of thousands of military and civilian experts were working in the African countries. From 1962 to 1991 in the Algeria alone there were more than 10 thousand Soviet service-men. On the Algerian-Moroccan and Algerian-Tunisian border, our sappers neutralized million and a half mines. Algerian army was equipped with 90% of Soviet weapons, about 4 thousand Algerian officers studied in the Soviet Union.
This is about the book «Memoirs of participants to assist the Algerian People’s Democratic Republic (1960-2000s)» issued by the Institute for African Studies, RAS, in 2014.

«THE PEOPLE HIDING IN THE ROCKS» by E.V.Spiridonova, PhD (History). Yaroslavl State University
The monograph by Alexandra Sharova «Dogon. Ethno-cultural history» (Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing. 2013. 112 p.). It’s devoted to the Dogon, one of the small peoples of West Africa, living on the territory of modern Mali and Burkina Faso border regions. Their number, according to various estimates, is 400 to 800 thousand people.
 

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