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2014 Asia and Africa today

WORLD ECONOMY: PROBLEMS OF RECON- STRUCTION

WILL THE ARROWS OF “ABENOMICS” HIT THE TARGET? by D.V.Streltzov, Dr.Sc. (History). Part 2
Keywords: «abenomika», «three arrows», inflation, consumption tax, integrated tax reform, economic growth, market fundamentalism
This article contains a comprehensive analysis of the economic policy of the Japanese government, dubbed
«abenomics” by the name of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A special attention is paid to the issue of raising the consumer tax, which becomes a key instrument for settling the problem of imbalance of Japan’s public finances. The author concludes that abenomics is quite a risky economic and regulatory tool.

SOUTH AFRICA: YESTERDAY AND TODAY
COMRADE NELSON MANDELA by V.G.Shubin, Dr.Sc. (History)
Keywords: Mandela, the African national Congress, South Africa
20 years ago, on 9 may 1994, the deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of South Africa, formed by results of the first country’s General elections, unanimously elected Nelson Mandela, the President of this country.
Only a few months Nelson Mandela has not lived up to the 20th anniversary of this victory. His death on 5
December 2013 caused a wave of sympathy and profound grief around the world.
In 2009, the UN has declared July 18, Mandea’s birthday the International birthday of «The last hero of the 20th century». Nelson Mandela’s motto were the following words: «We can change the world and make it better. You can make your contribution». Nelson Mandela did make his contribution.

SOUTH AFRICA: 20  YEARS LATER by A.A.Arkhangelskaya, PhD (History)
Keywords: South Africa, multipolarity, foreign policy, global economy, Africa, BRIX
April 27, 2014 marked 20 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa. Time has come to sum up results and make conclusions: whether the country succeeded to achieve the goals which it set for itself, whether it succeeded to meet the challenges of integration into the world community, to overcome difficulties and meet the challenges of the global world?

ISLAM, IALAMISM AND EXTREMISM
INDONESIAN NATIONALISM - TESTED BY DEMOCRATIZATION by A.Y.Drugov, Dr.Sc. (Political Science)
Keywords: Indonesia, nationalism, democratization, ASEAN, the US, the West, Malaysia, Sukarno, “New Order”, Islam, military, economy.
The paper is devoted to the role of nationalist ideas, their evolution at different periods of Indonesian history. President Sukarno radical nationalist regime (1959-1965) was replaced by authoritarian anticommunist “New Order” under General Suharto. Despite close political, economic and military ties with the West, Indonesia felt its domination as a burden and was doing its best to preserve its relations with the Soviet bloc. After the collapse of New Order caused by the 1997-1998 crisis, the international stance of the Republic was temporarily weakened.
Restoring its positions, Indonesia regards itself as one of leading regional and world powers. Antiwestern feelings are growing caused by the events in the Middle East and Afghanistan as well as the US hegemonies. The economic nationalism is emerging: for instance, the laws approved last years restrict exports of unprocessed raw materials.

REVOLT IN THE ARABIAN WORLD: CROPS AND SHOOTS
OPERATION “UNIFIED PROTECTOR”: ALL FACETS OF REALITY by E.I.Doroshenko, PhD (Linguisitcs)
Keywords: Libya, UN Security Council Resolution 1973, NATO’s military operations, humanitarian intervention
The main goal of the article is to highlight and trace the connections between the wording of UN Security Council’s Resolutions 1970 and 1973 on Libya adopted in connection with the events of February 2011, and the military response by NATO’s Coalition Force, the Operation “Unified Protector”.
The article concentrates on analyzing of the political and strategic premises for the UN-sanctions and military involvement of the so called third party into the local conflict and its immediate and long-term consequences for the civilian population of Libya. Besides, the author considers the issue of expediency and propriety of the full- scale military operation, now perceived as an inseparable part of the “Arab Spring” and “Libyan Scenario”, leading to political disruption and lack of stability not only in Libya, but in the region in general.

FEDERALISM IN EAST AFRICA: “ONE PEOPLE, ONE DESTINY”? by Kh.M.Turinskaya, PhD (History)
Keywords: federalism, regional integration, East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania
The article deals with the sociocultural aspects of federalism and regional integration in East Africa. The author is analyzing the issues of federalization on the national and regional level. A special attention is focused on the politics in present-day Kenya and Tanzania, where the author has made a research during a working trip in August 2013.
The paper contains the analysis of the ethnoregional decentralization as a new political regime in Kenya as well as the changes of Tanzanian governmental design, pursuing an updated status of Zanzibar in the Union system and following federalization. The author evaluates the current state of affairs in the East African Community, dealing with the issue of would-be political federation and a new regional identity.

RATAN TATA - AMBASSADOR INDIAN BRANDS by M.S.Kalandarova, PhD (History)
Keywords: India, Parsis, Tata Group, Tata Motors, Tata Nano, JLR
In India it’s hard to imagine life without the Tata brand. Millions of Indians work in the factories and companies which belong to Tata. Young people and children are enrolled in universities and schools established by Tata, go by cars made in the Tata factories, regularly use the goods and services provide by Tata companies. India’s guests stay in Tata hotels.
Article is devoted to the activities of well-known Indian businessman Ratan Tata, the great-grandson of Dzhamshedzhi Nasservandzhi Tata (1839-1904) - one of the founders of Indian Industry. Ratan Tata served as President of the conglomerate Tata Group for two decades and was instrumental in shaping the modern image of the Indian economy.
He will be remembered in the Indian history as one of the greatest industrialists of all times. His contribution to the Indian industry through the Tata Group is extremely valuable and everlasting. He will also be long remembered for his rare and unique adherence to noble principles, inherent fairness to the shareholders and business associates.

FERTILITY IN TROPICAL AFRICA: THE AGE OF MARRIAGE AND FERTILIT by Y.V.Zinkina, PhD (History)
Keywords: Tropical Africa, fertility, demography, population forecasts
The article views the recent fertility dynamics in a number of Tropical African countries for which the necessary data is available.
It’s proposed that for the foreseeable future, in the less- developed countries of Tropical Africa, fertility is likely to rise as socioeconomic development takes place, a trend which is called demographic development. This is because improved health and nutrition, which are concomitant to development, will have the effect of increasing fecundity and reducing spontaneous abortions and still births.
It is shown that in the majority of these countries fertility started to decline in the mid-1970-s - early
1990s. However, in the mid-1990s and early 2000s a mass fertility stall occurred throughout the great part of Tropical Africa. Even more important, in most cases fertility got stalled at very high levels, more than 5 children per woman. A decade-long absence of fertility decline bears serious threats of demographic explosions. The author presents some ways of avoiding the catastrophic scenarios.

THE NATIVE LANGUAGE SUPPORT IS A MATTER OF STATE IMPORTANCE by V.G.Burov, Dr.Sc. (Philosophy)
Keywords: native language, Hanban, Confucius Institutes, “soft power”
Some countries have special organizations, which are focused on the popularization of their language abroad. The most impressive scale of such activities has Hanban (The State Office for Propagation of Chinese Language). Its activities are realized through a network of so-called Confucius Institutes. This Institutes plays not only educational role, but also an important political function: propagation of Chinese language is one of the ways of increasing the “soft power” of China.

CHINA IN THE EPICENTER OF GLOBAL PROBLEMS by A.V.Afonasyeva, PhD (Economics), M.A.Bratyakov. Part 2
Keywords: China, The Pacific Rim Asia-Pacific, international processes, development, economics, politics, history, philosophy The XXth International Scientific Conference
«China, Chinese Civilization and the World. Past, Present and Prospects», held on October 16-18 2013 at the Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as at the Institute for Far East (IFE) was devoted to the complex problems of China’s development and its emergence as a regional and global responsible power.
The conference was held under the motto - «China in the Midst of Global Challenges». It was organized by the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, the Scientific Council for Comprehensive Study of Contemporary China, the Russian - Chinese Center for Cross-Border Cooperation and the Research Institute of Northeast Asia of Jilin University (China). The number of participants exceeded 150 people. More than 120 scientific papers were presented. Geography of participants included Russia, China, Ukraine, Belgium, Poland and Portugal.
Summing up the discussion, Russian and foreign scholars noted that the results of the Conference on
«China, Chinese civilization and the world. History, the present, prospects» (such conferences are held every 2 years) are important for the Russian and foreign science and business, because they give a comprehensive idea about the economic and political situation in China - the second largest economy in the world. Analysis of questions of history, philosophy and literature of China and the Chinese language also play an important communication role in establishing practical cooperation with China.

GEOMETRIC METAMORPHOSIS IN THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY by E.S.Polyakova
Keywords: BRICS, RIC, Russia, India, China
The article dwells on some of issues of formats of international organizations such as the triangle Russia- India-China (RIC) and BRICS as new «geopolitical projects» of network diplomacy. The author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of both formats as well as their impact on the modern system of international relations from the political, economic and cultural point of view. The author also underlines that both organizations are distinguished by their large, fast- growing economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs.
She notes also that the position of formats in the international arena and their positive influence on the resolution of international conflicts is strengthening.
It’s also studied the possibility of creating some alternatives based on the BRICS to the current international monetary and financial architecture. There is an assessment of BRICS and RIC’s potential in the context of the foreign policies of their participants.

WAITING FOR THE “SUPERPROJECT”: LANDMARKS OF TURKISH MOSQUE by E.I.Kononenko, PhD (History of Arts)
Keywords: Turkey, Taksim, contemporary mosque, architecture
Among the ambitious projects initiated by Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), the building of a massive mosque in the Taksim Square of Istanbul with the world’s highest minarets, and the construction of another mosque and creation of a pedestrian area in the city’s central Taksim Square stand out. The roughly 50,000 square-meter mosque atop Istanbul’s Camlica Hill, one of the metropolis’ few undeveloped spaces, will be visible from around the city of 13,5 million. Some believe that Turkey’s powerful Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a devout Muslim, ordered the construction of the Camlica mosque as a monument to his own legacy, as well as to “his party and Islam.”
The project of construction of Mosque on the Taksim Square of Istanbul implies that this building will become a visual symbol of interrelation between Turkish government and Islam.
Analysis of the architectural style of «modern Turkish mosque» suggests that the appearance of several “superprojects” in the second part of XX century which resulted in imitation of the Osman style and creation of international style monuments has ended. Mosque on the Taksim Square may become the new “super-project” that can predetermine the Turkish mosque architecture in the XXI century.

ON THE CREST OF THE “KOREAN WAVE” by E.L.Katasonova, Dr.Sc. (History)
Keywords: the Korean wave, pop-culture, cultural expansion
The Korean wave is the new term witch was originally coined in mid-1990s and reflects the growing popularity of South Korean pop-culture in many parts of the world, from Japan to Canada. The Korean government took full advantage of this national phenomenon and began aiding Korean media industries in exporting Korean products with cultural content: TV, dramas, films, pop-music, etc. This global cultural expansion has contributed to enhancing South Korea’s national image and its economy and has seen as an effective tool of its soft power. This paper analyzed the Korean wave and its implications for cultural influence on other countries.

CONFLICTS IN AFRICA IN THE MIRROR OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO by Y.A.Romanov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia in the Republic of Congo
The review of a book by Sidorova G.M. «Military conflicts in Afrika. The case of DRC» (M., 2013) is devoted to security issues of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which for more than 20 years has not seen neither peace nor stability. Tens of different military groups continue to operate in the Eastern part of the country, bringing violence and death to innocent people, forcing them to escape from their home regions.
The reasons for the military conflicts still lay in the evident or latent confrontation of different ethnical groups, as well as struggle for mineral resources, concentrated mostly in the East of the country. Peace-making attempts of regional and international partners have not been successful yet. The situation in this country is still fragile and brings many people to think about the destiny of the DRC.

V.G.SOLODOVNIKOV: 10 SCENES OF HIS LIFE
In March this year the famous Soviet and Russian scientist and diplomat, doctor of economics, professor, member-correspondent of the RAS V.G.Solodovnikov has marked his 96th birthday. For 12 years, since 1964 to
1976 he headed the Institute for African studies. Solodovnikov is a Dr. of the Lagos University (Nigeria), an honorary doctor of philosophy of the Karl Marx University in Leipzig, member of the International Institute for African studies in London.
Nowdays, as a member of the team of authors he is finishing his work on the collection of declassified documents of the State Department and of the CIA about the policy of the USSR in Southern Africa in 1976-1981. In those years Solodovnikov was the Ambassador of the USSR in Zambia.
He is the author of more than 350 scientific works, including 13 monographs. In 2004 in connection with the 10th anniversary of liberation of South Africa from apartheid Solodovnikov was awarded with the highest order of the Republic of South Africa - the Companions of Oliver Tambo. Earlier the scientist was awarded with the order of the Republic - «For outstanding contribution to the decolonization of Africa and the struggle against apartheid».

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