On October 27-29, 2014, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a round table "Economic, socio-political, ethno-confessional problems of Eastern Countries", organized by the Center for Research on General Problems of the Modern East (CIOPSV) (responsible for the organization O. P. Bibikova, N. N. Tsvetkova). More than 20 reports were heard. The participants were employees of the CIOPSV, CAII, OEI, CBSV of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, teachers of the Institute of Oriental Countries, Moscow State Open University, employees, undergraduates and postgraduates of the ISAA of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

The traditional round table was held in two sections: "Economic and socio-political problems of the Eastern countries "and"Ethno-confessional problems of the Eastern countries". The round table discussed the development of robotics and its possible consequences for the current international division of labor and for the socio-political situation of developing countries; modernization and innovative development in the Eastern countries, the innovative sphere of their economy - the ICT sector, the Chinese financial system, the offshorization of the BRICS economy, social problems of the Eastern countries, Russian politics in relation to the countries of the East under sanctions.

The meeting was opened with a speech by V. A. Tena (Moscow State University), dedicated to the memories of the corresponding member. G. F. Kim (1924-1989), Director of the Institute of Internal Affairs of the USSR Academy of Sciences, celebrated his 90th birthday in 2014. Other participants of the round table also spoke words of respect for the memory of G. F. Kim.

At the section "Economic and socio-political problems of the Eastern countries" R. G. Landa (Institute of Political Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "Socio-political consequences of the first Palestinian War" emphasized that the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-1949. It was the first international armed conflict in the Middle East, which turned the entire region into a high-risk zone and a potential hotbed of a new world war. In addition to the Arab countries and Israel, this war affected the interests of Great Britain, which sought to maintain its position in the Arab world; the United States, which hoped to push out Britain and France, which traditionally dominated the region; and the USSR, which tried to prevent the new enslavement and militarization of Arab countries with their subsequent inclusion in anti-Soviet blocs. These large-scale world-class contradictions were intertwined with less significant, local ones related to the claims of various political and religious groups, ruling dynasties and individual rulers. The result was constant socio-political tension in the Middle East, five Arab-Israeli wars, repeated intervention by the United States, Britain, France, and Italy in Arab affairs, and the gradual growth and strengthening of Islamism from Senegal to Indonesia, which resulted in the emergence of radical Islam organizations such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), Hamas, Hezbollah, Hizb Uttahrir, etc.
Kulpin-Gubaidullin] [E. S. (IB RAS) and O. A. Mashkina (MSU) presented the report "Chinese scientists and innovation generation". It was noted that the positive results of China's transition to modernization, while burdened with extremely negative environmental consequences, began to affect only by the beginning of the XXI century. Objectively, the solution of both domestic and global problems becomes possible only through fundamentally new technologies.

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The report analyzed the approach to innovation that has been characteristic of Chinese culture for centuries. The participants discussed in detail the achievements of the People's Republic of China in the field of education and research, as well as the programs implemented in these areas. China will catch up with developed countries in terms of vocational education coverage in the next decade. However, will this ensure a transition to advanced modernization? Noting the great quantitative achievements of the PRC in education, a well-known Chinese scientist, the creator of the Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile Qian Xuesen, at the end of the first decade of the XXI century, expressed concern about the fact that the higher school of the PRC does not form its graduates ' readiness for change and the ability to initiate them. Huge investments in various innovative projects do not give an adequate effect. The scientist sees the reason in the lack of a spirit of originality and creativity in Chinese universities. "Chinese universities talk only about what has already been voiced by others, and do not dare to talk about what no one else has said, which means that they do not dare to explore the unknown," is his conclusion, which the public and the country's leadership agreed with [Annual Report, 2010, p. 295].

For the innovative development of the PRC, in addition to the material and technical base, a breakthrough in thinking is a necessary condition. Today, organizational and structural reforms in higher education are taking place faster than the introduction of new educational concepts. In the meantime, this is not happening, foreigners are actively invited to China. During the period from 1989 to 2009, the number of foreign scientists in Chinese research centers increased almost 200 times - from 2.5 thousand to 480 thousand people [Xiong Qingyan, 2011]. Given that only 1.6 million scientists work in research centers in China, it can be argued that foreign researchers and young Chinese specialists who have received education abroad make a significant contribution to the development of Chinese science. To encourage innovation, the Chinese Government has established grant programs. One of the goals of the programs is to raise 100 Nobel Prize applicants within 10 years in a concentrated intellectual environment.

A.V. Akimov (IB RAS) in his report "Robotics and labor-saving technologies technological challenges of the XXI century" noted that in the coming decades, the development of robotics will become an important factor for the labor market in most countries of the world (for details, see: [Akimov, 2015]).

N. N. Tsvetkova (Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a presentation "Production of ICT goods in the East: Asian TNCs". Asian countries have become the leading exporters of ICT products1. In 2000-2012, the share of developing countries in global ICT exports increased from 43% to 70.8%, developing countries in Asia - from 39% to 67%, and China - from 4.4% to 30.8%. http://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds, 2014]. The top ten exporters of ICT products in 2012 included China, Hong Kong (PRC), Singapore, Taiwan (PRC province), the Republic of Korea, and Malaysia. Some countries, primarily China, are net exporters of finished electronics products, while others are net exporters of electronic components.

In the modern international division of labor, this area shows the following trends: on the one hand, the movement of production to countries with cheap labor (the theories of absolute advantages by A. Smith and comparative advantages by D. Ricardo), on the other - the division of labor between the countries of the East themselves. Some countries produce microchips (Philippines), others-hard drives (Thailand), others carry out assembly, etc. This intraregional division of labor is not based on comparative advantage, but on economies of scale in international trade, a phenomenon studied by the 2008 Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.

TNCs of the electronic industry and the ICT sector that have formed in the developing countries of the East play an active role in the formation of the intraregional division of labor. Among the 96 ICT product companies in the Forbes 2000 Global Companies list in 2014, one-third were companies from developing Asia. In different value chains, one country or even one company may have a different role: a manufacturer of components or finished products.

1 According to the definition (OECD) (2002), the production of ICT goods includes a number of articles of the International Standard Commodity Classification: production of office, computer, computing equipment, wires and cables, vacuum tubes, electronic components, transmitting equipment for radio broadcasting, television, telephone and telegraph communications, televisions and radios, video recorders, sound reproducing equipment etc.

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I. V. Deryugina (IB RAS) in her report "Efficiency of agricultural production in the countries of the East and West: a comparative analysis" emphasized that when comparing agriculture in the countries of the East and West, the indicator of agricultural production efficiency is reduced only to labor productivity, and other indicators of land productivity and capital productivity (or fund return) are not taken into account (for more details, see: [Deryugina, 2013]).

T. N. Deitch (IAp. RAS) in her report "Chinese investment in infrastructure in Africa" noted that the main obstacle to Africa's economic development is the backwardness of infrastructure. In recent years, China has been actively filling this gap. China accounts for 30% of the cost of infrastructure projects implemented in 50 countries of the continent. China has already implemented more than 500 infrastructure projects. T. L. Deitch elaborated on China's investment activities in various infrastructure sectors, citing a number of projects in Africa as examples: Sudan, Zambia, Kenya and Uganda, Cape Verde. In recent years, China has been reforming its investment policy. Whereas previously it mainly supported the implementation of "hard" infrastructure projects, at the 5th conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2012, it was decided to focus on "soft" infrastructure (education, human contacts, joint research, etc.). China's active participation in the development of African infrastructure encourages more active development of the country's infrastructure. the decisive actions of other international players. New partnerships are emerging, such as the newly formed BRICS Development Bank, which was signed at the last BRICS summit in Fortaleza in May 2014. China is leading the way in creating this Bank, having agreed to invest $ 41 billion in its authorized capital, while Russia, Brazil and India will each invest $ 18 billion, and South Africa $ 5 billion.

E. N. Korendyasov (IAp RAS) devoted his speech to the problems of military-technical cooperation (MTC) between Russia and African countries. The military-technical cooperation played a leading role in creating favorable and trusting conditions for the development of Soviet-African relations. The collapse of the USSR and the transition to a market economy were accompanied by a significant drop in the volume of military-technical cooperation in general and with Africa in particular. However, the export of military products was perhaps one of the rare areas where the decline was quickly stopped.

In the 2000s, the attractiveness of Africa as a market for military products increased. In recent years, Russian exporters have been expanding their presence on the African continent. 2000-2013 Russia exported $ 11.7 billion worth of military products to Africa, which accounted for 11.7% of total Russian arms exports. During this period, the largest buyers of Russian weapons were Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia. These countries account for more than 85% of Russia's arms and military equipment exports to Africa.

E. V. Rastiannikova (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) noted the peculiarities of offshorization of the BRICS economies. The BRICS countries rank first in the world in terms of the volume of capital exported to offshore companies. The amount of assets accumulated in offshore companies exceeds the amount of external debt. Each of the BRICS countries has its own characteristics and reasons for withdrawing assets abroad. China ranks first in the world in terms of capital flight. The usual scheme is applied for an export-oriented economy through the registration of export-import firms and financial holdings in offshore zones. A special place in this policy is given to Hong Kong. The main reason for offshorization in Russia is not tax optimization, but property protection, so companies withdraw not profits, but assets and capital "for a rainy day". Usually, when withdrawing capital, firms in most countries create subsidiaries in offshore companies, and Russian businesses register parent companies there that own real Russian enterprises. One of the features of offshorization in Russia (and in China) is the "return of capital", or its reinvestment, back to the country. In the IT services sector of India, the following scheme is common: intellectual property is owned by an offshore company. Income from the sale of rights to this property is accumulated in its accounts.

Dmitry Eremeev (MSU ISAA) reviewed the problems of the Chinese financial system. The development of China's financial system was influenced by a number of factors: a very high savings rate (up to 50% of GDP), strict currency legislation, a regulatory system that made it difficult for savings to go abroad or appear in cash in foreign currency; the reliability of the banking system in the eyes of the population and confidence in it, and relatively moderate inflation rates. But by the end of the last decade, Chinese banks had accumulated a huge amount of " bad " loans, according to official estimates amounting to up to 30% of their loan portfolio.-

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the market is volatile and subject to manipulation. At the same time, the number of financial market instruments is limited compared to developed countries. A serious problem is the growth of debt. Estimates of the debt burden of local authorities vary widely - from 30% (official data) to 53% (report of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). China's banking system has assets of $ 27 trillion, while the entire Chinese economy is $ 10 trillion. Under these conditions, non-performing loans from Chinese banks continue to grow rapidly. A report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences notes that China's total debt was 215% of GDP at the end of June 2014.In 2008, this ratio was only 147%. However, during the global financial crisis, the Chinese authorities stimulated economic growth by pouring 4 trillion yuan into it.

E. R. Amirov (ISAA) delivered a report on "Development of information and communication technologies in Arab countries: social networks and economic development".

L. F. Pakhomova (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in her report "Modern Brunei: an agenda for action in the field of social and economic reforms" noted that in Brunei, the combination of a unique system of government and excess financial resources from the sale of oil and gas made it possible to create a functioning "model of prosperity" in the region socio-economic development. However, despite the relatively high standards of social protection of the population, internal problems gradually accumulated in the sultanate. In this regard, in recent years, the country has taken measures to implement reforms: fighting poverty, resolving tender issues, and modernizing the education and health systems.

An important place among the social problems of developing countries is occupied by the problem of urbanization. Z. N. Galich (IB RAS) in her report "The city in symbolic images and scientific concepts" noted that since ancient times there has been a conscious understanding of the importance of meaning-forming (religious and spiritual) properties/qualities of the city, the idea of its magical, sacred power. As such, it opposes anarchy, decay, and social chaos. It can be argued that the spiritual, religious, and later cultural and civilizational component of urban evolution is present throughout the history of cities. The emergence of giant cities with a population of millions created the following concepts: megacity, megalopolis, megalopolis, continuous urbanized territories/areas, and the process of their emergence was called " megapolization "and"megalopolization". The colonial cities of the East in the second half of the XX century had definitions-postcolonial, developing. Globalization has given rise to a special type of cities - global/world, "city without borders", "creative city", "city from the mind", "city-region".

Social and political problems of the Eastern countries were also discussed at the round table. A.V. Kiva (Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a report on "The New Eastern Policy of Russia". He reviewed the prospects and limitations of economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and Eastern countries. N. A. Zamaraeva (IB RAS) analyzed the political crisis of 2014 in Pakistan, described in detail its causes and consequences.

G. I. Smirnova (IB RAS) in her report "Possible scenarios for the development of the situation in Libya after the overthrow of Gaddafi" noted that the resumption of the civil war is taking place against the background of a rapidly deteriorating political and economic situation in the country. Contradictions between regions, between Islamists and supporters of the secular, liberal path of development, between opponents and supporters of the overthrown regime have become more acute. Separatist sentiments and tribal divisions are intensifying. The financial and economic situation in Libya has worsened. Oil production in the country has plummeted. As a result, in 2011, Libya's GDP shrank by almost half, and as of January 2014 - by 12.6% compared to the same period of the previous year. G. I. Smirnova assessed various forecasts for the development of events in Libya and suggested that the West might support the performance of army units led by General Haftarah. In Libya, there is a possible scenario of events that took place, for example, in Algeria in the early 2000s, or in Egypt, where General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power after the temporary victory of the Islamists as a result of the "Arab Spring". However, given the difficult domestic political and economic situation, the process of restoring order in the country and restoring the economy will be difficult and long.

Reports on developments in the Islamic world were presented at the section "Ethno-confessional problems".: moods of Muslim youth in Western countries, relations between Shiites and Sunnis, problems of Islamophobia, ISIS.

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V. S. Shevchenko (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) devoted his speech to the current situation in Lebanon, which demonstrates a classic version of the coexistence of 18 religious communities. The civil war led to the fact that the Christian community lost its former influence, and the Muslim community, primarily Shiites, with the support of Iran and Syria, strengthened its position. The current situation is complicated by the growing confrontation between Sunnis and Shiites, between Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states on the one hand, and Iran and Syria on the other, as well as the civil war in Syria. As a result, the Lebanese population was divided into two camps, represented by two blocs. The first is the pro - Syrian "March 8" bloc, which includes the Shiite parties Hezbollah and Amal, and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement party, and the second, anti-Syrian, "March 14" led by Saad al-Hariri, leader of the Sunni Movement for the Future (Al-Mustaqbal). It also includes the Maronite parties of Samir Jaajaa and Amin Gemayel.

Since November 2014, the ISIL group has been trying to blow up the situation in the pro-Sunni north of Lebanon in order to include it in the caliphate. The situation is complicated by speculations on the Sunni issue and the antipathy of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to Bashar al-Assad. The refugees ' sympathy for the so-called armed Syrian opposition is gradually being transformed into sympathy for ISIS fighters. Traditional Lebanese communities form their own formations during periods of tension, in particular, the Druze community organized the Dai Ammar detachments for self-defense. It is obvious that Lebanon, where inter-communal peace has always been extremely fragile, is in danger of being drawn into a global Sunni-Shiite conflict, which is already on a global scale.

The current situation in Iraq, where the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis turned into a civil war, was discussed in a speech by V. P. Kirichenko (IB RAS). The anti-Saddam coalition overthrew the Ba'athist regime in 2003, and the system under which Shiites were virtually excluded from power collapsed. Thanks to the United States, a new system of governance was created in the country, under which Sunnis were persecuted. The confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis, dissatisfied with the removal from power, was supplemented by the aggravation of relations with the Kurds, who demand autonomy, as well as with Iran, which supports the Shiites. In turn, the presence of US troops in the country has attracted al-Qaeda fighters to Iraq. Another player was the Sunni Ba'athist underground, which became more active in 2011 after the purge of the country's ministries, especially security forces, from which Sunni Muslims were dismissed. The situation in Iraq worsened in the summer of 2014, when the organization's militants launched a full-scale offensive in the northern and western regions of Iraq. Such a development of events, which began with the American invasion of Iraq, shows that the United States used ethnic and religious contradictions in the region to implement a plan to redraw the Middle East, the initial stage of which should be the dismemberment of Iraq, and then Iran, into parts along ethnic and religious lines.

The situation of the Christian population in the Middle East was discussed by I. A. Vorobyova (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences). The worsening situation in the region has led to an outflow of the Christian population. By the end of the XX century, the number of Orthodox Christians in Syria was 503 thousand, in Lebanon-295 thousand (according to the materials of the Orthodox Encyclopedia). According to the UN, 2 million people left Syria by 2013. christians. Nevertheless, Syrian and Lebanese Christians are represented in the legislative and executive branches, as well as in all other areas of State and public life. The authorities of these countries pursue a policy of cultural and religious freedom. Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch emphasized that it is in Syria and Lebanon that the Orthodox Church has such broad rights that are not available in other Arab countries. However, the civil war that broke out and the subsequent ISIS offensive dealt a serious blow to the Syrian Christian population. Radical Islamist leaders are calling for a" cleansing " of Christians in Syria. In the current situation, there are fears that the history of Middle Eastern Christianity may end in the twenty-first century.

The aggravation of the situation in the Middle East affected the mood of young Muslim citizens of Europe, among whom supporters of radical Islam were identified. O. P. Bibikova (IB RAS) examined the reasons that encourage European youth to join the ranks of ISIS. We are talking about the second and especially the third generation of young people from immigrant families whose parents moved to Europe. Despite the policy of multiculturalism announced in a number of countries, which was supposed to gradually assimilate immigrants, it is the third generation that demonstrates adherence to the national and religious traditions of their fathers. The sense of alienation that has developed among young Muslims has contributed to the creation of a kind of parallel society, in which institutions that are characteristic of the Muslim world are being recreated.

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for Muslim countries. When comparing events in the Muslim world with their own self-perception, young Europeans of Muslim origin have what the French sociologist Farid Khosrokhovar called " the identity of indirect insult." Feeling empathy for all the "Muslim victims in the world," young immigrants believe that their failures in life are caused by hatred of Islam on the part of the West. As a result, young Europeans are joining the ranks of ISIS. The situation is complicated by the high level of unemployment, which primarily affects immigrant youth.

The fact that Islamophobia can become a political tool was mentioned by Z. I. Levin (IB RAS). He cited the opinion of the Western Islamic scholar P. Hammond, who believes that the main threat to countries where there are Muslim diasporas is their growth. Such a threat now faces European states, where the number of Muslims is growing rapidly. Europeans ' concerns about the growing number of Muslims are not least related to the decline in the birth rate in European families. In many ways, this can explain the Islamophobia characteristic of the European media. The term "Islamophobia" first appeared in 1922 in the essay of the orientalist Etienne Dinet "The East through the eyes of the West". We are talking about a negative attitude towards Islam, which has historically developed in the Christian world since the time of the Crusades.

A. A. Ganich's speech (ISAA) was devoted to Muslim education in Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century. According to the data of 1913, more than 11 thousand people worked in the Russian Empire. muslim educational institutions. In the Caucasus, there were schools attached to mosques - maktabs, which functioned at the expense of waqfs and private donations. As early as the mid-19th century, Shia and Sunni Muslim schools were established in Tiflis, "Tatar department" at the Transcaucasian Teachers ' Seminary in Gori. The expansion of the network of educational institutions, which were financed from the funds of the Caucasian viceroyalty, was the result of the policy of the government of Alexander II in the field of secular and spiritual education. In 1873, Transcaucasian Muslim spiritual administrations of Shiites and Sunnis were established in Tiflis. In its proximity to the Ottoman Empire and Iran, the leading centers of Muslim religious and philosophical thought at that time, Russia was interested in undermining the influence of foreign Islamic ideologues. The aggravation of religious and national issues forced the Government to reconsider the main provisions of the national and confessional policy. The Supreme Decree "On Predestinations to improve the state order" (December 12, 1904) and the provisions "On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance" (April 17, 1905) approved by the Cabinet of Ministers marked a new stage in regulating the religious life of the Old Believers, the "non-Orthodox" and "non-Orthodox" population.
R. M. Sharypova (IB RAS) spoke about the situation in Tunisia, where the Islamist Ennahda (Revival) party came to power in 2011. Ennahda's success is explained by the fact that it was the only political group in Tunisian eyes that was not associated with the former regime of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. The established secular opposition believes that the Nahdists receive financial support from Qatar, that the party will not be able to fulfill its election promises to solve social and economic problems, and that it seeks to revive authoritarianism that does not allow dissent. As a result, the ranks of the opposition were replenished with new members who accused the Nahdists of fanaticism and close ties with the Salafists. The ideology of this Ennahda party is to spread Islam and fight for power through the sword and armed jihad.

In his closing remarks, R. G. Landa noted that in general, the discussion of topical problems of the East at the annual" round table " of the CIOPSW was very fruitful and can serve as a basis for further scientific research.

list of literature

Akimov A.V. Trudosberegayushchie tekhnologii i obshchestvennoe razvitie v XXI veke [Labor-saving technologies and social development in the XXI century]. 2015, N 1.

Deryugina I. V. Regional features of the development of agricultural economy (influence of intra-and inter-industry agricultural integration). 2013. N 1.

Xiong Qingyan. How education was reformed in China // Vеdomosti.ru 04.10.2011.

Annual Report on China's Education (2010) / / Blue Book oj Education (in Chinese) / Ed. Yang Dongping. Beijing: Academic Publishing House of Social Sciences, 2010.

Untadstat / / URL: http://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds/ TableViewer/tableView.aspx? (accessed: 10.04.2014)

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