Articles

The Asian crisis was sudden and unprecedented in its scale. It began as a currency crisis in Thailand but quickly spread to other Southeast Asian countries and almost paralyzed their financial systems, primarily banks and capital markets, then the real economies. Later the crisis was called a crisis of a new type in the globalization era. Four ASEAN countries – Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia – that had opened their capital accounts too soon found themselves in the epicenter of the crisis. As the crisis was financial by its nature, the above-mentioned countries in postcrisis years tried to promote more sound and efficient domestic financial systems, paid much attention to lessening the sensitivity of domestic economies and financial systems to external shocks, including “sudden stops” in foreign capital inflows, and to building a solid base of domestic investors. The aim of this study is to re-assess the scope of financial development of four Southeast Asian countries that were hit particularly hard during the Asian crisis.

Chinese politics in the Hu Jintao era (2003–2013) is marked by a certain degree of ideological pluralism. This period is a peak of creative work of Yu Keping and Wang Shaoguang — the two Chinese public intellectuals whose works are examined in this article. Their positions differ in many aspects, yet one remarkable idea unites them: China can and should be democratic, and this does not mean building a Western-style democracy. In this research we conclude that democratic ideas proposed by modern Chinese pro-party intellectuals are, in essence, a reconsideration of Chinese political thought of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The article represents a quantitative study of economic growth in the context of globalization and a country risk premium. The authors have analyzed the panel data for 94 countries for the period of 2001–2013 years. The sample of 29 Asian and African countries was considered for the same indicators and the time period. The hypothesis about correlation between the level of country’s globalization, its country risk premium and its economic growth was tested. The regression analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the economic growth of Asian and African countries and their level of integration in the global economy. Qualitative indicators as independent variables were not investigated.

This paper offers a detailed description of the “Evaluations of the Song Dynasty Painters of Renown,” one of the earliest accounts of Chinese artists who were active between the late 10th and the first half of the 11th centuries. The paper first describes the structure of the text and the content of the artists’ biographies. It then addresses issues of authorship and date, challenging the traditional attribution to Liu Daochun in favor of Fu Jiaying, a lesser-known Song Dynasty personage. The paper finally highlights the text’s approach to the classification of artists, and places the text in the broader context of the connoisseur tradition in China.

This article gives a general outline of the current state and perspectives of nuclear energy development in Arab countries. Special attention is paid to the reasons of utilization of this type of alternative energy and to analysis of existing plans for its development. Governments of a number of Arab countries expect it to become an important energy source in the future. The material analyzed in the article allows to conclude that the existing programs are too ambitious and don’t have a solid infrastructure basis yet. Taking into consideration the fact that the countries of the region significantly lag behind technologically and don’t have national human resources for nuclear power related projects, implementation of such projects is only possible with international assistance. Nevertheless, a number of Arab countries, namely the UAE, will be able to construct their own NPPs in the coming years. If such plans are realized, the issues of technological and geopolitical risks will become quite topical.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the political life in Delhi in the 1940s–1960s with special attention to the development of the Hindu nationalist movement — the emergence and the early phase of BJS (Bharatiya Jana Sangh — Indian Popular Union). The author emphasizes the crucial role of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — National Volunteer Organisation) in the consolidation of the anti-Congress opposition movement in the early 1950s. The analysis of the changing political situation in the Indian capital is based on the results of the national and regional elections in Delhi. The consequences of the Partition of British India also had a significant impact on the political preferences of the population of Delhi. The study of the political life in Delhi reveals the fact that powerful opposition parties, which could challenge INC at the regional level, were active in India since independence.

The article is focused on the role of jihad in the social and political life of Morocco in the XVII–XVIII centuries as one of the main factors of legitimacy of the Alawi dynasty (since 1631). A study of historical sources allows us to suppose that the European presence in the Moroccan lands since the XV century had a serious impact on the religious life of the Islamic Far West. Using of the ideology of jihad the sultans succeeded to gain popularity among their subjects, primarily among the traditional Islamic scholars. They also tried to justify their different political and economic outlines by needs of the holy war.

The Muslim community in India is among the country’s most socially and economically disadvantaged religious communities. Literacy rates are low, especially among women. The educational situation is particularly difficult in North India, including Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state. Many Muslim women there cannot attend schools located far from Muslim neighbourhoods. Tensions between religious communities contribute to fear and distrust and discourage girls from going to school. Although several programmes to improve Muslim women’s access to and quality of education were launched in the 2000s, they have yet to produce substantial results.

The article is devoted to the globalization impact analysis on the economic development of the Southeast Asian countries. The author notes that this process is characterized by the accelerated growth of their foreign economic relations and the increased involvement in the global economy. At the same time, it is accompanied by the increasing rates of economic development in these countries and significant changes in their economic structure. The globalization process stimulates the economies of Southeast Asian countries to gradually acquire the features of more developed markets, and facilitates their transformation from being the suppliers of food and raw materials to becoming large producers of modern industrial products. The author comes to the conclusion that at the same time with acquiring new increasingly modern development trends the globalization leads to the increase in the economic dependency of the region on the foreign markets and in particular on the main centers of the world economy.

Tarikhs from several Ottoman fortresses of the Caucasus Black Sea coast (Taman, Temryuk, Sudjuk-kale, Anapa and Suhum-kale), despite their lapidary form, provide information about the history and details of the Ottoman penetration and military presence in the region. According to the account of the Temryuk fortress, construction began in 921 AH (1515–1516) during the reign of Sultan Selim I and was completed in 925 AH during the reign of Sultan Suleiman. This fort was further developed in 983 AH, during the reign of Sultan Murad (1575–1576). Under Sultan Ahmed III (1703–1730) a number of new forts were built in the region with the activation of Ottoman policy, such as Sudjuk-kale, Fash and Suhum-kale. The tarikh of Suhum-kale was discovered and translated by A. von Nordmann. Finally, at the end of the eighteenth century, the Ottomans started a new phase of fortress construction by building fortifications of the Anapa fortress.

The article is based on the materials derived from the part of the unpublished treatise of the Syrian adept of Sufism ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi (1641–1731) “Authentic and Graphic Description of Journey across the Greater Syria, Egypt and Hijaz” which contains the description of author’s travel through Egypt. The goal of this article is to analyze the structure of the ulama corporation, and its role and place in the Egyptian society of the 17th century. The analysis confirms that the ulama of this period can be characterized as a potent group that traditionally played a crucial role in the development of sustainable relations between the political elites and religious community.

The article surveys Japanese, Western and Russian research on the life and writing of Gensai Murai (1863–1927), a Japanese writer and journalist who authored the culinary novel “Kuido:raku” (The Pleasure of Eating, 1903). Despite his extensive literary legacy and the early success of the novel, Murai is rarely counted among the best-known writers and educators of the Meiji era (1868–1912). A detailed biography published in 2004 renewed interest in his work. Western studies usually mention Murai and his novel only in discussions of everyday life in Meiji Japan. The article reviews the main studies and examines why he has received little attention in Russian historiography.

This article examines the main features of business Chinese in comparison with colloquial Chinese. The emergence of modern business Chinese is linked to the economic reforms begun in 1978. Stylistic features of business Chinese are analysed at the lexical and syntactic levels. A study of the Peking University CCL online corpus allows the stylistic markedness of business Chinese vocabulary to be assessed quantitatively. After classifying the genres of business writing by subject matter, the author identifies expressions characteristic of each genre that convey the intentions of the sender. Knowing these expressions supports effective use of business Chinese in negotiations and correspondence. Business Chinese combines contrasting tendencies: colloquial elements, rational and emotional approaches, traditions and innovations.

In recent decades, the Japanese economy is in the low speed segment of the global economy, while partially losing its international competitiveness in those markets where it previously had a distinct advantage, namely high-tech markets of the manufacturing industry. For the period of 5 years (2011–2015) Japan had a negative trade balance. Low economic growth in the context of continuing deflation leads to stagnation of demand in the domestic market. In these circumstances, the country’s government and Japanese businesses are looking for new areas of capital investment and new export opportunities. The article analyzes the direction and results of the Japanese strategy aimed at overseas promotion of creative industries where intellectual property constitutes the core of the product. The government of S. Abe sees these industries as one of the drivers for economic growth and expansion of export potential of the country.

This article focuses on China’s policy, cooperation and disagreements with Washington and Moscow on the DPRK’s nuclear issue. Sections 1 and 2 give an analysis of the background of developments surrounding the DPRK’s nuclear issue and the Chinese position in detail. Section 3 covers China’s cooperation and disagreements with the US on this issue. From China’s perspective, “no problems in the region will eliminate US interference in regional affairs.” Section 4 covers China-Russia cooperation regarding the DPRK’s nuclear issue. The arguments are the following: Moscow and Beijing maintain pressure on the DPRK but only to the extent that its political system does not collapse. One reason for the joint Russian-Chinese resistance to the DPRK’s nuclear tests is that, after its tests and missile launches, the US increased its military involvement in the Far East. In conclusion, the author gives a recommendation on a possible way to solve the DPRK’s nuclear issue, which poses a threat to international security.