TOP PROBLEM

THE OAU/AFRICAN UNION IS 50 YEARS OLD

Ceremonial meeting of the Council of the Institute for African Studies took place in Moscow on May 27 devoted to Africa Day and the 50th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The participants were addressed by the Director of the Institute for African Studies, academician A. M. Vasilyev, Director of the Africa Department, Ministry of Foreign Affaires of the Russia S .N. Kryukov, the head of the group of African ambassadors in Russia, Ambassador of Madagascar in the Russian Federation Eloi Alphonse Maxim Duvu.

The basic report "Russia and Africa yesterday and today" was made by A. Yu. Urnov Dr.Sc. (History).

"OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH AFRICA IS GAINING MOMENTUM" by S.N.Kryukov, Director of the Africa Department, Ministry of Foreign Affaires of the Russian Federation

Keywords: Russia, the African Union

Noting that in the past the Soviet Union did a lot to help former African colonies to gain independence, S. N. Kryukov stressed that nowdays Russia is aimed at further expansion of cooperation with the African Union and African countries. He pointed that the AU is playing an important role in the coordination of integration processes on the continent, strengthening political, economic and humanitarian cooperation between African countries, including the interaction of Africa with major multilateral forums such as the UNO, G20, G8, the BRICS and others.

"THE AFRICAN UNION WILL BUILD A NEW AFRICA" by Gabriel Kochofa, the Ambassador of Benin in the Russian Federation

Keywords: the 50-anniversarv of the OAU, the Institute for African Studies. Moscow

The speech made by H. E. Gabriel Kochofa at the conference held in the Institute for African Studies. According to him, all these years Russian scientists "helped us to study our own continent. Russia prepared for Africa a lot of highly qualified specialists". G. Kochofa briefly outlined the Black continent's successes and achievements, as well those challenges and problems which the African countries are confronted with nowadays.

AFRICA, RUSSIA AND THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF OAU/AU by E.N.Korendyasov, PhD (Economics); A. Yu. Urnov, Dr. Sc. (History); V. G. Shubin, Dr. Sc. (History)

Keywords: 50th anniversary of OAU/AU, Russian-African cooperation, BRICS, Thekwini Declaration

The paper deals with 3 main themes. First. The way the Pan Africanist ideas have been implemented in practice in the course of the last 50 years by the OAU formed in May 1963 and of the African Union which replaced in July 2002. Second. Russian-African cooperation. The article cites the provisions of the renewed Russian-African cooperation which relate to the principal vectors of its policy toward Africa. Third. Russia, Africa, BRICS. The authors consider BRICS a very prospective channel of Russia-Africa cooperation. The provisions touching upon the interests of Africa, contained in the Thekwini Declaration adopted bv the Vth BRICS summit in Durban (March 26 - 27, 2013), are examined.

SUMMIT OF THE AU IN ADDIS ABABA by A. N. Bragin, our Staff correspondent in Ethiopia

Keywords: OAU/AU, African rapid reaction force

One of the key outcomes of the summit was decision to create the African forces of rapid response to crises (ACIRC).

Along with this, African leaders agreed that the instability and the presence of multiple existing and potential crisis situations in many countries of the continent require more decisive action from the AU. In their opinion, conflicts in Mali, Libya, Rftpublique de Crbte d'lvoire could be resolved faster and more successfully if the Western countries didn't interfere with and a leading role in their settlement would have been provided by Africans themselves.

POLICY. ECONOMY

WORLD CRISIS: RECOVERY PROBLEMS

WILL CHINA KEEP THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF ITS ECONOMY? by E .N. Samburova, PhD (Geography)

Keywords: China, competitive advantages, economic growth, domestic consumption, external factors

The paper analyzes possibilities of maintaining competitive advantages of China's economy and rapid economic development. New challenges and arc also covered.

In connection with the current decrease in rates of economic growth in China, the question arises: is this the end of the Chinese "economic miracle"? Or China still claims the world economic leadership? Will China preserve high rates of economic growth, will the economy succeed in overcoming current negative tendencies?

RUSSIAN-PAKISTANI RELATIONS: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS by S. N. Kamenev, PhD (Economics)

Kewwords: Russian-Pakistani relations, bilateral cooperation

Russian-Pakistani relations during its existence from 1948 (before the collapse of the USSR the Soviet-Pakistan relations) had a lot of ups and downs. This article focuses only on our relationship in the XXI century. In the first decade of this century, after many years of stagnation, there are evident positive prospects for the development of multilateral relations between Russia and Pakistan.

BRAZIL - AFRICA: AN EXAMPLE OF A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE COOPERATION by A. Yu. Borzova, PhD (History)

Keywords: Africa, Brazil, the BRICS, external relations

For a long time now Brazil is making efforts to increase its cooperation with Africa. In the early 2000s it developed and launched a course, called "Preferential policies of Brazil to Africa". It is based on the principle according to which the Brazil's policy toward the African continent must be attractive for the African nations. The main tasks of Brazil's work in Africa are eradication of poverty and hunger, achieving of universal primary education, observance of equality of men and women, reducing child and maternal mortality, combating major diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, financing for sustainable development.

REVOLT IN THE ARABIAN WORLD: CROPS AND SHOOTS

THE NEW STATE IDEOLOGY OF LIBYA by E. I. Doroshenko, PhD ( Philology)

Keywords: Arab Spring, Libya, ideology, "degaddafication", "gaddaphilia"

The article examines the making and socio-political manifestations of the six key ideological points which appeared in Libya after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in

2011. These points greatly affect both the present-day policies adopted by the new government and the relations within the new Libyan society. Thus, they are considered a valuable asset in discovering and characterizing the now-existing sociopolitical trends in the emerging state of Libya.

FERTILITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: RISK OF DEMOGRAPHIC EXPLOSION by Yu. V. Zinkina, PhD (History)

Keywords: Tropical Africa, fertility, demography, population projections

In 2010 - 2011 under the program of Research of demography and health, established Ъу the U.S. Agency for international development (USAID), the surveys were conducted in several African countries. The obtained data allows to analyze the dynamics of the level of fertility and its probable consequences for the development of the demographic situation in sub-Saharan Africa in the coming decades.

INDONESIA AND SPACE by L. V. Shkvarya, Dr. Sc. (Economics)

Keywords: Indonesia, outer space exploration

The article examines the current status and directions of space activities in Indonesia. It is shown that the country is playing great attention to this sphere of science and economy, doing its best to use the world experience and cooperation with the world leaders in the field of outer space exploration. The author considers the possibility of Russian-Indonesian cooperation in the sphere of space and the main directions of its development, emphasizing the mutual benefit of such cooperation for both parties.

RUSSIA AND THE EAST

RUSSIA AND THE CCASG COUNTRIES: STRENGTHENING OF ECONOMIC COOPERATION by E. S. Birukov, PhD (Economics)

Keywords: Russia Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, economic relations

The article examines economic relations of Russia with the countries-members of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) which is a political and economic union of Arabian states bordering the Persian Gulf.

It is shown that current level of cooperation between Russia and the region yields substantially to the existing potential. The analysis focuses on the existing projects, that enable to make a conclusion that "from below", on the level of business, the cooperation is carried out in a wide spectrum of different directions. Recommendations on the ways of activization of cooperation with the region are given.

OUR REFERENCE

THE ARABS IN THE "TOP-500" by P. V. Gusterin

Keywords: magazine "Foreign Policy", Top-500, leaders of the Arab world

The American Journal "Foreign Policy" published a list of 500 names of "the people who control the commanding heights of the world leading spheres - from politics to finance, from the mass media to energy, from military affairs to religion." The list includes 32 Arabs from 13 countries. They made up 6,4% of the total list, i.e. about every 16th nominee is a representative of the Arab East.

SCIENTIFIC LIFE

TRADITIONAL CONFERENCE OF RUSSIAN AFRICANISTS by T. M. Gavristova, Dr. Sc. (History), A. Y. Zheltov, Dr. Sc. (Philology)

Keywords: African studies. Dmitriy Olderogge

This paper is a brief analytical survey of the conference on African Studies under the name "Readings in memoriam to Dmitriy Olderogge" which took place in St. Petersburg in April, 2013.

PAGES OF HISTORY

TOUGH DIALOGUE AFTER THE XXth CONGRESS OF THE CPSU by I. N. Selivanov, Dr. Sc. (History)

Keywords: Soviet-Vietnamese relations. Sino-Soviet relations, the XXth Congress of the CPSU

The 20th Congress of the CPSU, held in February 1956, became a kind of milestone in the USSR relations with the socialist countries of Eastern Asia, significantly weakening Russian influence in this region. Although the vast majority of "fraternal" parties, some only formally, supported its decisions, they reacted with dismay to messages about the glorification of the cult of personality of Stalin andf those methods that he used during the course of the socialist construction in the Soviet Union and in the countries of "people's democracy" in Eastern Europe and the Far East.

CULTURE. LITERATURE. ART

JAPAN AND THE ASIAN SCENARIO OF JOSEPH

NYE by E. L. Katasonova, Dr. Sc. (History)

Keywords: Japan, J. Nye, "soft power"

Tokyo, the first on the Asian continent has come to understanding and active using of "soft power" as a powerful tool of international influence. The Japanese interpret it as "an impact on the world affairs with the help of, humanitarian-cultural activity" and considered it in close interaction with the diplomacy in its classical form.

What are potential resources of Japanese "soft power"? J. Nye presents the following figures: Japan takes the 1st place in the world in providing economic assistance to developing countries. The country takes the leading position on the number of registered patents. 2nd - in sales of books and music records, 3rd - in expenditure on research and development etc. But the most important resource of "soft power" is a global influence (especially in the Asian countries) of Japanese pop culture - comics, animation movies, pop music, fashion, food and etc.

"REVENGE" ON EASTERN WAY: NEW FACETS OF THE OLD FILM by E. A. Ikonnikova, Dr. Sc. (Philology), T. K. Pavlova, Uzhno-Sakhalin State University

Keywords: Anatoly Kim, Yermek Shinarbayev, movie "Revenge", Korean culture

The article tells about the movie "Revenge" (filmed in 1989, digitized in 2010) of the Kazakh Director Ermek Shinarbaev. The plot of the film includes three stories of Anatoly Kim from the debut collection "Blue Island". The film reveals the national peculiarities of diverse characters. Philosophical search for the main and secondary characters of the film are rendered through the prism of Eastern culture and popular wisdom revealed by certain individuals.

BOOK REVIEWS

Japanese Soul Mirror: a Sakura Branch or Comics-Manga by Y. M. Rusakov, PhD (History)

The book by Dr. Sc. E. L. Katasonova The Japanese in Real and Virtual Spaces. An Overview of Modern Culture (Moscow, Vostochnaya Literature, 2012, 359 p.) paints an overall picture of today's cultural life in Japan, ranging from manga to music, with such complex phenomena as cyberculture. The research proves that Japanese popular culture spreads far beyond Japan.

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