The conference "Social Processes in the Countries of the East", held at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences on April 9-11, 2007, was organized by the Department of Comparative Theoretical Research of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was attended by employees of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Bashkir Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and other scientific institutions.

The conference participants focused on the problems of the development of Eastern society in the context of globalization, the contradictory consequences of globalization for the countries of the East and (using the terminology of A. Toynbee) those" answers "to the" challenges " of globalization that the countries of the East managed to find. One of these "responses" was the strengthening of the economic power of Asian giants-China and India, the new industrial countries of Asia, and the development of high technologies in these countries. Another "response" to the challenges of globalization is to increase the role of religion and return to traditional, non-Western values. The growing role of the Eastern countries in world development is also associated with the growing confrontation between the Islamic world and the West. The most topical issues of political Islam, Islamic radicalism and extremism, and the perception of Islam in Western countries and in Russia were discussed at the conference.

In general, with all the variety of topics of the conference reports, we can distinguish four main areas:: 1) the Eastern society as a whole and especially in the context of globalization, the contradictory consequences of modernization; 2) increasing the role of the Eastern countries in the world economy, the development of a "new economy", high technologies, socio-economic problems of the Eastern countries and such problems as "East and West" and "East in the West". This issue was discussed at the section "Social processes in the countries of the East". 3) the Islamic world and the West (also the problem of the "East in the West"), Islam, radical Islamism and Islam - extremism, the perception of Islam and Islamic values in Western countries; 4) the peculiarities of the religious factor in individual countries and territories became the topic of presentations at the section "Religion and Eastern Society". Islam and Buddhism in some republics of the Russian Federation, Christianity in the Middle East and North Africa.

The conference was opened by Deputy Director of the RAS Institute of Oriental studies, head. Department of Comparative Theoretical Research V. A. Isaev. He noted that after the collapse of the USSR, in the light of the changes that have taken place, when it became possible to write more freely, without being constrained by strict ideological requirements, orientalists began to deal mainly with country problems - historical, economic, social, cultural. Books of a generalizing nature, such as, for example, the monograph on the development of capitalism in the Arab world, which was published in due time, were practically not created at the institute during this period. Meanwhile, there is a need to prepare generalizing studies on the countries of the East with the participation of a wide range of specialists, works that would sum up the results of the end of the XX century, the results of the development of the East after the collapse of the bipolar world. The disappearance of the socialist camp led by the USSR had a significant impact on many Eastern countries, which at one time used the existence of two world systems, skillfully playing on this to their advantage.

The first report at the plenary session of the conference on "Political Islam and Western Society" was made by R. G. Landa (IB RAS). The problems of Eastern society, he stressed, include social, economic, political, as well as religious problems. R. G. Landa pointed out that the" return to the origins "of the world of Islam today is also caused by the continuation of the Western offensive in the spheres of economy, politics and technology within the framework of globalization, as well as the creeping "Westernization" of everyday life, customs, and social ties between people, which undermines

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the traditional monopoly of Islam in these spheres of life of Muslim society, and the painful breakdown of its structures in the course of difficult adaptation to the requirements of modernizing economic mechanisms and "mondialization" (i.e., universality) of world economic relations. The direct result of these processes was the rapid growth of impoverishment in the East, the high rate of ruin of the peasantry, and the plentiful replenishment of the social base of the eastern city by a huge mass of rural marginals.

The maturation, structuring and self-organization of political Islam was also facilitated by such an important factor as the growth of the number of Muslims in the non-Islamic world, especially in the West. Over the past half-century, the number of Muslim believers in Europe and the CIS has increased 4-fold, and in the United States and Canada - 20-fold. Official statistics differ significantly from figures provided by religious organizations and various Muslim figures. According to the former, there were between 2 and 5 million Muslims in the United States in 2000, while the latter claim that there are either 7 million or 15 million of them. The differences are equally significant for Muslims in the United Kingdom (1.5 million and 4-5 million in 1997), France (2.5 million and 6-7 million in 2000), and Germany, where the number of Muslims increased to 3,040,000 (3.7% of the total population) in 2000.

R. G. Landa noted that for more than a century, Westerners have found it difficult to comprehend (more often, they cannot comprehend) the unacceptability of "Western standards of life"for the world of Islam. This is the main (though not the only) reason for all the failures in relations between Western and Eastern, especially Islamic, societies. Not understanding the causes of extremist Islamism, the Western world looks at the world of Islam with fear and bewilderment, qualifying Islam as a "religion of hostility and hatred", as a source of constant and, as it seems to most Europeans and Americans, unprovoked threat of violence. Hopes that the process of globalization will "regulate" and put everything in its place are generally illusory. R. G. Landa stressed that political Islam is too deeply rooted in Muslim society and requires a serious, thoughtful attitude. According to R. G. Landa, it is necessary not to teach Muslims and people of the East in general how to live, not to impose their own rules and ideas on them, but to try to understand their values and concepts, the origins of their beliefs and life credos. Mutual understanding is the best way to avoid conflict or resolve it if it has already occurred.

The report "Intervention of radical ideologies in the mass consciousness of Russian Muslims" was also devoted to the problems of Islam, which was delivered at the plenary session by A. B. Yunusova, Director of the Center for Ethnological Research of the Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She elaborated on the activities of the extremist religious organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir al-Islami ("Party for the Liberation of Islam"), whose members are mainly young people, many of whom converted to Islam a year or two ago, among them not all can be attributed to "ethnic Muslims", many have Slavic first and last names and very superficial ideas about Islam.- The Volga region, professed by Tatars and Bashkirs, which has never been a slogan of separatism or extremism. It has passed the test of forced baptism, state repression of foreigners and non-believers, militant atheism of the socialist era, euphoria from the "renaissance", accusations of fundamentalism, the influx of a host of mentors from abroad, and yet continues to be the basis of a way of life and a creed that preaches mercy, love for one's neighbor, and tolerance for all other people. respect for your elders, love for your homeland-Russia. However, the Muslims of Russia, including the Ural-Volga region, have a lot of problems: an underdeveloped system of religious education and the lack of competent personnel of clergy, the inability to resist the onslaught of the ideology of the "market" and crime on the life of the community, the internal confrontation of Muslim clergy and the disunity of Muslim society. That is why the Russian Muslim society has become an object of intervention by radical ideologies and international terrorist organizations that mobilize socially immature young people, who are now trying to make a support for the implementation of the great-power plans of the builders of the world caliphate.

A. B. Yunusova pointed out that the 1990s were marked by the "revival" of Islam in Russia. She classified the religious literature published during these years, dividing it into three groups: : 1) scientific, popular science and educational literature, including published primary sources; 2) religious didactic literature; 3) printed publications of the Russian Academy of Sciences.-

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documents that directly indicate their affiliation to the publishing database of extremist organizations.

In 2002-2005, the Hizb-ut-Tahrir party became more active in the central regions of Russia. A special feature of the current period is the mass distribution of propaganda literature, the Al-Wai magazine, and leaflets in Russian. Among the leaflets, A. B. Yunusova named such things as" A proclamation on the course of action"," Law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation falsify facts and falsely accuse Hizb-ut-Tahrir"," Rapprochement with the Ummah"," How to behave in case of contact with special services","Teacher training". Islam, Islamic rhetoric - all this is used only as an ideological entourage. Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir cells devote very little time to studying religion, without making the Qur'an their main task, do not study Arabic, the main time is devoted to politics, economics, sociology, geography, and religion is allocated no more than 15% of the time of the entire training course.

The spread of radical ideologies and the demand for such ideas among young people indicate a deep social disadvantage, religious and legal ignorance. Psychologically unprotected person, experiencing life troubles, not getting an answer to the eternal Russian questions "What to do? "and" Who is to blame?", not finding justice, is easily tempted by Islamic propagandists. Nevertheless, according to A. B. Yunusova, Bashkiria has demonstrated a fairly stable immunity to the spread of radical trends and ideologies. The idea of a worldwide caliphate has not received support here, and for most believers, jihad is perceived as a struggle with their own shortcomings.

З. I. Levin (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) presented a report on "Modernization of Eastern Societies and globalization" at the plenary session and contrasted modernization with globalization. Modernization is related to industrial development, globalization is related to post - industrial development, modernization is aimed at the development of national structures, in the era of globalization there are supranational structures and new actors - TNCs, TNBS, non-governmental organizations. According to Z. A. Levin, modernization of the industrial phase - the age of Modernity-is a set of processes for the adaptation of society in the conditions of the emerging world capitalist economy, and in the age of globalization - in the conditions of its final stage. Modernization has opened a phase of transition of traditional Eastern society into modernity, shaking its foundations, while globalization undermines them.

З. I. Levin is optimistic about globalization and its prospects, which contrasts with the point of view of R. G. Landa. The contradictory consequences of the impact of globalization remained out of the field of view of Z. I. Levin. He believes that globalization has raised the importance of the individual with scientific knowledge and knowledge of information technology. According to him, the peculiarity of the post-industrial society is that the need for an active, creative personality becomes the main thing in relation to the development of material production.

A. I. Yakovlev (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about the inconsistency of Western influence on Eastern society at the plenary session in his speech on "The crisis of modern and traditional values in a non-Western society at the turn of Epochs". He stressed that the most socially and economically developed part of the world is currently undergoing a transition from one state to another, during which symptoms of ill-being appear not only in the financial, industrial, environmental spheres, but also in the sphere of spiritual life. For the countries and peoples of the East, this crisis is aggravated by the state of transition, the consequences of accelerated modernization along the Western model. By the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, similar crisis processes began to develop in different countries of the East, only indirectly related to the difficulties of socio-economic development. The Islamic revolution in Iran and the events of September 11, 2001 in the United States clearly showed the limited value of the Western model as a model for the countries of the East. Modernization has not made these countries resemble Western ones.

According to A. I. Yakovlev, for a more complete understanding of what is happening in the East, it is worth returning to the use of the hastily rejected concept of "formation", adding to it the equally hastily fashionable concept of"civilization". Then it becomes clear that Eastern society is able to use the Western formational model of development as a combination of the principles of material and social life. Using the formational content of the Western model, A. I. Yakovlev believes, the Eastern countries rejected its spiritual component, both in the Modern and postmodern eras. Thus, an unexpected consequence of the modernization of the Eastern countries was the revival of their civilizational principles, their traditions.

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The discussion of the problems of globalization and its consequences was continued at the sessions of the section "Social processes in the Eastern countries in the context of globalization".

In the report of N. N. Tsvetkova (IB RAS) "East and West in globalization: foreign direct investment", it was noted that the attributes of modernization are rationalism (coming from the age of Enlightenment), the priority of the market, a market economy based on the desire to maximize profits, individualism as opposed to collectivism, the existing system of social ties and imperatives - are in conflict with the system of values of other, non-Western, civilizations (especially Islamic). In the conditions of post-industrial society and globalization, we are already talking about postmodernity, where the rational principle is often replaced by irrationality, and the strengthening of any trends often takes them to the extreme: individual freedom develops into extra-ethical individualism, alienation and social chaos increase. The trend of increasing consumption leads to a constant race for fashion, "changing models", to the emergence of a" society of throwers " with its plundering of natural resources, including non-renewable ones, to the aggravation of environmental problems. Often, the values implanted by mass culture are not typical of the root, fundamental, Western culture.

The rejection of alien values, the crisis and the search for identity are all the stronger, the less benefits certain groups, communities, social, ethnic groups receive from integration into the global economic system, and, as is well known, benefits and incomes in the global system are distributed with increasing unevenness, and if in developed countries the overwhelming majority of people are integrated into the system of global prosperity in the absence of an egalitarian social policy, the poorer the country, the greater the proportion of the population left out of this system.

The perception or rejection of alien values also depends on how firmly the essential, indigenous elements of culture as the basis of civilization have been preserved. In Russia, for example, they were largely destroyed (in the course of collectivization, industrialization, changes in the model of the extended family, community, and peasant culture). The Muslim society of the Eastern countries is characterized by the persistent preservation of essential elements of culture, which causes all the more protest against the imposition of alien values. The Chinese (and to a certain extent, but in a different way, the Indian) model is the preservation of essential elements while being ready to accept and adapt elements of technological modernization (as in Japan).

N. N. Tsvetkova noted that the growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) indicates an increase in the role of Eastern countries in the global economy. Of all FDI inflows in 2005, 36% went to developing countries, with 50% of investment inflows to developing countries and 18% of global inflows coming from East, South-East and South Asia. In 1967, the region's share of investment in developing countries was only 13.5%. In 2005, about 2/3 of investments in Asia were directed to the PRC and Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of the PRC), 22.4% - to the Southeast Asian countries, and 6% - to South Asia.

The role of Asian countries as capital exporters is also increasing. They accounted for 1/2 of FDI outflows from developing countries in 2005. Leading investors among Asian countries and territories are Hong Kong (PRC), Singapore and Taiwan. Investments from India and China are increasing. In the book value of FDI in South, South-East and East Asia, the share of investment from the region increased from 44% in 1995 to 65% in 2004. What is it, globalization or regionalization? To a large extent, these investments are related to integration within the so-called Greater China.

З. N. Galich (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) considered the problem of "Urbanization and the city in the context of globalization," orientalization-Asiatization "of the world socio-cultural space". She also spoke about the increasing role of the Eastern countries in global development and in the global urban space. As a result of the acceleration of urbanization processes in Asia, the share of the East in the total number of urban residents in the world is increasing. In 2000, developing countries accounted for 80% of the world's total population and 68% of the world's urban population, while Asian countries accounted for 60% and 47.5%, respectively.

At the same time, another equally significant process-the growth of the urban population of the West due to ethnic migration of immigrants from Asian countries-is operating and gaining pace and rhythm. And these important historically predetermined and quite obvious phenomena reflect the action of global trends. And all together-the postcolonial demographic explosion of enormous force, the accelerated urbanization in the East, and the active migration from eastern (especially Asian) countries to the West-inevitably, collectively produce the effect of " orientalization ex-

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pansia", or "Asiatization", of the global urban and socio-cultural space. For many centuries after the Great Geographical Discoveries, there was a situation defined as "West in the East", but now a new one has emerged - "East in the West". The following processes are in full swing: "Arabization of France"," Turkization of Germany and Holland"," Indo-Pakistanization of Great Britain","Latin Americanization of the USA".

The tendency to increase the role of the Eastern countries in the world economy and in global development was touched upon by speakers with reports on various topics.

A. V. Kiva (IB RAS) in the report " Russia and China: similar past and such different results of reforms" elaborated on the economic success of the PRC. China has actually become a global factory for the production of clothing, shoes, and furniture. It accounts for 30% of the world's production of televisions and mobile phones, is rapidly increasing the production of computers, is developing the innovation sector at an accelerated pace, and is already ahead of Russia in many indicators in the field of high technologies. But before the reforms, China lagged far behind the USSR.

So what has driven China's fantastically rapid growth? A. V. Kiva believes that this is, first of all, the quality of power. If, since the early 1990s, our government has been acting on a "liberal project" suggested from the outside, Deng Xiaoping has opened the way for the communist regime to overcome the impasse without revolutions and social upheavals. The leaders of the PRC put the multiplication of national wealth in the foreground, and not the distribution of public property created by previous generations (and serving not the rich class and themselves, but the entire society). The social policy of the Chinese leadership was also responsible for solving this problem. Its goal was, on the one hand, to encourage people to work well, constantly increasing wages, and on the other - to mitigate social contrasts in society through a reasonable tax policy. While in Russia, the 13% personal tax is paid by almost everyone, including billionaires (which contributes to creating a huge gap between rich and poor), in China, the poor (who receive less than 1,600 yuan, which is about 5,800 rubles) do not pay it at all. And it starts at 5% and goes up to 45% (for comparison: in the USA-up to 47%, and in France - up to 58%). In China, a luxury tax is also levied, which is not done in Russia. And the tax on profit is taken differentially: starting from the same 5% and bringing it up to 35 %.

A. V. Kiva's speech was the subject of a discussion in which a number of questions were raised about what increasing the economic power of the PRC means for Russia.

L. F. Pakhomova (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) reported that Russia's trade with China is unbalanced: imports from China are growing faster than exports. Exports of high-tech products to China are sharply reduced. What can be done to balance this trade? There are other difficulties. Environmental problems are being transferred from China to our territory. Migration issues are becoming more acute. In China, about 300 million "unaccounted" Chinese (due to strict birth restrictions, not all children were registered) without passports, without education. China is creating its own economic empire, and in the process of globalization, the PRC is expanding into Southeast Asia, where there are many Chinese.

A. I. Kiva replied that Russia, experiencing a shortage of labor, will be interested in the influx of immigrants in the near future. In China itself, due to the age structure of the population due to the policy of limiting the birth rate "one family - one child", there may also be a shortage of labor in the future.

O. P. Bibikova (IV RAS) objected that in China, due to the policy of birth control, there was an imbalance in the population structure - an excess of the male population (the sex of the child was determined by ultrasound, unwanted pregnancies were eliminated, and the only child in the family was a boy). This disequilibrium changes the face of the nation, its mentality, and is fraught with problems.

I. A. Dlin (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) also spoke about the increasing role of Eastern countries in the world economy in his report "Social processes and models of socio-economic development in the Transition countries of the West and East". In his opinion, in the countries of Confucian culture, development is largely promoted by the strict industrial discipline characteristic of this culture, the law-abiding population, non-conflict in society, respect for the state bureaucracy, and faith in an all-powerful and incorruptible state official who knows the way out of any impasse. This is due to the high quality of these countries ' products and their considerable competitiveness. N. A. Dlin stressed that experts of the UN and other international organizations often proclaim the XXI century-the century of Asia. This is first and foremost

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This applies to Japan, Singapore and, of course, to the rapidly developing China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, whose capital closely interacts with each other and with the very significant Chinese national capital in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries.

L. F. Pakhomova's speech "Correction of the vertical of power (Indonesia)"was devoted to the peculiarities of the development of Indonesia and the problem of changing relations between the center and the regions. After the fall of the new order regime in 1998, amid a dangerous combination of financial, structural and political crises, the dismantling of the authoritarian regime began, which required a transformation of the power and political system. In less than 10 years, the country has changed four presidents and several governments. Certain articles of the Constitution relating to the party-political system and the electoral system were revised and amended. Direct presidential elections were established. An important point in the transformation that began was the rejection of the so-called two functions of the army, which provided, along with the main function of ensuring the protection and security of the country, the participation of the military in all spheres of social and economic life. Along with the reduction of military representation in the highest central and regional bodies, as well as at all levels of regional government - from province to village - the army had to gradually withdraw from political and public life. Having analyzed in detail the activities carried out in recent years in Indonesia, L. F. Pakhomova came to the conclusion that the strategy aimed at gradually easing disintegration and centrifugal processes was based on the concept of preserving the unitary state while granting broad autonomy to the districts.

The increasing role of India in the global economy and the development of information technologies were discussed in the report of V. N. Ulyakhin (IB RAS). India, he believes, is among the developing countries of Asia a model of an offensive strategy in ensuring economic security, where innovative technologies, technical modernization, increased investment in the real sector, and adaptation of the production and export structure to the global environment are a priority vector of development. The information technology market is the fastest growing in India, with an average annual growth rate of about 30% over the past 5 years. Of the 50 macro technologies that enable the production of high-tech products in the world, India is able to compete in the global market in about 40 key areas.

India's main competitive asset in the field of information technology (IT) remains relatively low wages compared to the United States, Japan and EU countries. The level of payment in IT industries is 1.3-1.5 times lower than in the Republic of Korea and Taiwan. At the same time, it should be noted that there is an increasing trend towards wage growth in Indian industry. V. N. Ulyakhin stressed that, despite the process of broad liberalization in the sphere of production, finance and foreign trade, in India, as in most of the RSAs, there is still an active link between the development of high technologies and state policy. In particular, the National Association of High-Tech Manufacturers (NASSCOM), which unites about 700 companies with a total production share of 95%, occupies a dominant position in the IT industry. As the experience of India shows, the accelerated development of innovative industries, as well as the state's macroeconomic policy aimed at strengthening the influence of STP factors, have the maximum compensatory potential that reduces threats to economic security.

Speaking in the debate on the report, N. Tsvetkova added that Indian companies providing IT services-Infosys, Vipro, Satyam, Tata Consulting-export capital, and have established subsidiaries, for example, in Vietnam, Romania, and Australia. They are also spreading their operations in the hinterlands of India, in rural areas. Satyam has set up a company in a village in Andhra Pradesh( BPO, Business prosidings Outsourcing), the salary of employees there is significantly lower than in Bangalore, but it is quite high for the village. Thus, rural residents are also integrated into the global information technology system.

A. M. Kuprin (Institute of Information and Communication Technologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about information and communication technologies, but from the point of view of their use and impact on society on the example of Tunisia. He followed the history of Internet and mobile telephony use in Tunisia, the authorities ' efforts to restrict the use of the Internet for opposition political parties, and compared the situation in Tunisia with other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

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The role of innovation as the basis for the development of modern production was discussed by I. R. Setdikov (IB RAS).

Today's rise in the role of the Eastern countries makes us recall their former role in the global economy. S. A. Soplenkov (Institute of Economic History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) devoted his speech to the problems of the economic history of Asian countries in Russian historiography.

The economic aspects of the development of Eastern society were analyzed in the speeches of I. V. Deryugina (IB RAS) on changing the model of economic growth in Kazakhstan and G. A. Kochukova (IB RAS) on economic liberalization. I. V. Deryugina described in detail the main stages in the development of agriculture in Kazakhstan from the end of the XIX to the beginning of the XXI century, showed the role of the ethnic factor (Kazakhs and Russian) in the agriculture of Kazakhstan at different stages.

The role of diasporas in modern Russia and related conflicts was discussed in a speech by D. A. Birchanskaya (IB RAS).

The central place in the work of the section "Religion and Eastern society" was occupied by the problems of Islam.

O. P. Bibikova's speech "Arab-Muslim and Western values: symbiosis or confrontation" largely echoed R. G. Landa's speech. According to O. P. Bibikova, modern Western and Muslim societies are characterized by a wary and sometimes hostile attitude towards each other. Such stereotypes of mass consciousness are favorable grounds for the growth of Islamophobia in the West, on the one hand, and radical anti - Western Islamism in the Muslim world, on the other. In the field of propaganda of Islamophobia, the United States is making a lot of efforts. Misunderstanding and hostility between the West and the Islamic world are supported and reinforced by persistent stereotypes that exist in the mass consciousness. The rejection of Muslim culture and science, the desire to conceal the closeness of religious doctrines, turned Islam into something absolutely hostile to Western civilization. As an example of Islamophobia, O. P. Bibikova cited the book "Rage and Pride" (2002) by Italian journalist Oriana Falacci.

Just like R. G. Landa, O. P. Bibikova stressed that the West does not really understand the Arab world. Arab society shares the values of a collectivist culture, which implies the ability to empathize and appreciate family ties, and makes it possible to always count on support at a very different level, because each individual is a member of numerous associations: a family, a clan (tribe), a religious community, a craft workshop, a Sufi brotherhood, etc. In such a society, moral values are especially respected. Naturally, there is always a sharp reaction to the insult of religious shrines. This largely explains the conflict that occurs between representatives of diasporas and their host European societies, where collectivist culture is opposed to individualistic. How will the dialogue between Arab-Muslim and European civilizations develop? It is obvious that increasing globalization will inevitably lead to the creation of close contacts in all areas of world development, and each culture, each civilization must, while introducing its own identity, accept and adapt the values of other civilizations. O. P. Bibikova stressed that both sides should understand that neither European nor Islamic values can threaten anyone. On the contrary, they should form the basis of cultural and political relations between the Islamic and Western worlds.

One of the youngest participants of the conference, D. A. Nechitailo (IB RAS), attracted the attention of the audience with his topical report on structural changes in the world jihad front. In his opinion, the current state of Al-Qaeda can be considered as a crisis, since many of its members have been arrested or killed. However, its" brand "continues to work, and Al-Qaeda needs new organizational connections. The first group to join al-Qaeda in 2006 was Usbat al-Ansar, the other being the Syrian-Lebanese Jund al-Sham, whose fighters are believed to have been involved in the September 2006 terrorist attack near the US Embassy in Damascus. He joined al-Qaeda himself in 2004 as the head of the Jordanian-Saudi group Al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad, and set out to unite the various factions waging war with the Americans and the Government. Al-Qaeda has also been joined by the Salafist Group of Preaching and Struggle (SGPB) in Algeria, which has a strong combat potential, its fighters were trained in Afghanistan, and also participated in combat operations in Bosnia and Chechnya. Experts in the field of terrorism claim that members of the CBSS form the so-called Al-Qaeda Marine Corps and are capable of mining naval vessels. According to them, the SSGB militants participated in the bombing of the American warship "Cole".

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The alliance with al-Qaeda increases the rating of the GSPB, attracting to its side those Algerians who previously doubted its ability to fight the Algerian government. The GSPB has extensive experience in European countries, has a well-developed infrastructure, and well-developed methods of recruiting young people (mostly of North African origin). For al-Qaeda, this association also offers some opportunities: Muslims in various regions of the world do not always share the ideals of" pure Islam "that Al-Qaeda proclaims. Al-Zawahiri repeatedly warned Al-Zarqawi about this and called on him to abandon the practice of conducting terrorist attacks against civilians in order not to alienate the masses from Al-Qaeda, whose members, especially at the initial stage of the war in Iraq, were "non-Iraqis" (including Al-Zarqawi). In his address to Al-Zarqawi, Al-Zawahiri also noted the fallacy of actions in Afghanistan, when Al-Qaeda and the Taliban failed to rally the people against the Americans and did not take into account the national specifics of the country. A number of other ideologists of radical Islam recall similar mistakes in Chechnya, where local Sufi fraternities dominate, and the majority of the population could not accept the ideology of Salafism.

The conference participants ' reports were also devoted to the problems of Islam in certain republics of the Russian Federation.

M. Y. Roshchin (IVE RAS) spoke in detail about the history of Islam in Dagestan, paying special attention to the last 10-20 years. He showed the role of the ethnic factor in the religious situation in Dagestan.

R. M. Sharipova (IB RAS) gave a very critical assessment of the Islamic revival in Tatarstan. She noted that there are many problems. Many newly built or restored mosques are empty. The reasons for this phenomenon are different: either there are no qualified imams, or there are not enough parishioners, or there are no funds for the maintenance of the mosque, etc. In educational institutions, there is a lack of textbooks, well-trained teachers, as well as a developed concept of education. Imams who were educated in Arab countries adhere to the Hanbali and Shafi'i madhhabs (theological and legal schools) that they studied abroad, while Tatars are traditionally followers of the more liberal Hanafi sense. The majority of imams who graduate from local religious educational institutions generally have a low level of education. The formation of the Tatar-Muslim Ummah faces such problems as the continuing gap between the main part of the intelligentsia and the Muslim clergy, the extreme pragmatism of imams (including the highest level), their focus not on the spiritual path, but on material values; the unpreparedness of the Tatar-Muslim society for the growing processes of globalization, excessive isolation on local affairs and domestic relations.Russian politics. To this we should add the growing linguistic and cultural assimilation of Tatars in the predominant Russian and Russian-speaking urban environment, while the share of Tatars living in ethnically homogeneous rural areas is rapidly decreasing. R. M. Sharipova stressed the importance of the problem of reviving Tatar parishes (mahallas). She noted that for the majority of Tatars, Islam is more an element of identity, an ancestral heritage, a certain reference point, rather than a way of life and a spiritual source.

In his report on the revival of Buddhism in Kalmykia, S. B. Filatov (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) also suggested that for the Kalmyks, Buddhism is rather an element of national identity. In 1995, a branch of the Karmani International Buddhist Institute (KIBI) was opened in Elista, which is run by a monk from Tibet (although only 12 of the 30 students are Kalmyks, the rest are Russian). With the support and personal financial participation of K. Ilyumzhinov, the Shakyusn-Syume Temple was built in 1996, the first of the buildings of the hurul complex-the future Gendun Shaddub Choyhorling Monastery ("Abode of Perfect Monks"). In 1993-2003, 21 khuruls were built in all uluses. Ilyumzhinov also strives to support all schools and movements of Buddhism present in the republic. He himself is the bearer of a peculiar, constantly developing, religious ideology, which largely determines the development of Buddhism in Kalmykia. The main features of this ideology are expressed in his book " Kalmykia - the Land of the Spirit: a National Idea "(Elista, 1997). In it, the author asserts the existence of a "single stream of spirit" that unites epic wisdom, paganism and Buddhism, national traditions and Christianity.

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The idea of an eclectic ideology of "a single stream of spirituality", "unification of the religion of East and West", and "planetary faith" in 1993-1996 turned out to be consonant with munism. Munits were supported by local authorities for several years, and were granted admission to schools and universities. However, after harsh criticism in the Russian media, the Unification Church lost its support and registration. A. Dorzhinov, head of the Kalmyk Buddhist Union (SBC), argues that the Kalmyks ' monotheistic beliefs are explained not so much by Christian influence, but by the peculiarity of traditional Kalmyk religiosity, pre - Buddhist beliefs of the Kalmyks-Tengrianism and Zoroastrianism. An important feature of the current Kalmyk religiosity is the perception of Buddhism as one of the elements of a broader folk spirituality that needs to be revived in its entirety. Other elements of this folk spirituality are pre-Buddhist pagan beliefs, shamanism (this tradition is preserved by village medicine men-Emchi) and the national epic "Jangar". According to many local Buddhists, Kalmykia is the only European Buddhist country, and Buddhism in Kalmykia is European.

Two reports were devoted to the problems of Christianity in the East. I. A. Vorobyova (IB RAS) considered the problems of the Eastern Orthodox Churches - the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Orthodox Church of Antioch, and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. E. A. Krivets (IB RAS) spoke about the relations between the state and the Coptic Church in Egypt.

In a brief closing speech, N. Tsvetkova noted that speeches on various topics indicate the increasing role of the East in world development. In general, the exchange of opinions on topical issues of the development of Eastern society was very fruitful. It would be advisable for conferences on the problems of Eastern society, as suggested by some participants, to become a tradition and be held every one to two years.

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