Vol 14, No 4 (2022): Political History, Culture and Religion of Asia

Ideas and politics in history

Buddhism and Nationalism as Sources of Identity in in Asia of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Kitinov B.U.

Abstract

The article examines the influence of Buddhism and nationalism on identification processes in Asian countries in the context of political transformations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Significant revitalization of Buddhism (sometimes called “Buddhist Modernism”) in a number of countries coincided with the growth of nationalism (especially in Russia, Mongolia, Tibet, China, and Japan), as well as the growing perception of Buddhist transnational unity. Nationalism and religion collaborated in their reactions to a number of important phenomena: the anti-colonial movement, the resistance against western cultural expansion (India, China, Japan), the aspiration of independence (Tibet, Mongolia), the renovation processes (in particular, among the Russian Buddhists). These phenomena were caused by objective factors, the changes in worldviews, as well as with activity of some individuals (Tagore, Tai-su, Uchida Ryohei, Dalai Lama, Agvan Dorjiev). The high level of civilizational depth allowed Buddhists of various traditions to assert their basic principles as important to identity resources.

RUDN Journal of World History. 2022;14(4):355-372
pages 355-372 views

South Korean “Youth Culture” of the 1970s and State-Led Modernization

Starshinov A.S., Kim N.N.

Abstract

The article examines features of Park Chung-hee’s project of modernization and identifies socio-economic and cultural influence of such state-led modernization on the creation and development of South Korean “youth culture” of the 1970s. The authors highlight several specific policies and socio-economic trends that led the emergence of “youth culture”: rapid urbanization and drastic increase in urban population; increase in urban families’ incomes and consumption; changes in the division of labor; expansion of both school and university education and dissemination of mass media. Along with that, the article analyzes the influence of the policies of managed westernization and developmentalist discourse of the 1960s on the formation of values of this “youth culture”. The paper explains how these state-led policies paved the way for the creation of “youth culture” that paradoxically contained drastically different values compared to both official discourse of the Yusin government and values of parental generation. The new generation born after the Korean War, the so-called Hangeul generation, became the main driving force behind it, but faced repetitive misunderstanding and condemnation from both the older generation and the state. Eventually, due to state’s pressure, this “youth culture” experienced decline in the second half of the 1970s.

RUDN Journal of World History. 2022;14(4):373-388
pages 373-388 views

Modern World

Evolution and transformation processes of China’s educational policy and governance in 1978-2019

Kashin V.B., Yankova A.D.

Abstract

Since the beginning of the period of reforms and openness, the PRC has constantly promoted a phased reform of the education system to modernize educational functions, rise new builders of socialism and support economic transformations in the country. Due to the active regulatory and management work, described in detail in the article with the help of instrumental observation, China gradually achieved several important results. State educational policy shifted from focusing on expanding the scope and improving the quality of education to its connotation-based development. The study of the Chinese experience of modernization of the education system has not only theoretical, but also practical significance, since successful Chinese examples of deep and rapid transformation of the national administrative system and state functions, as well as a clear adjustment of the characteristics of educational policy to current national priorities can be considered for partial application in other countries, including Russia. In order to adapt elements of the Chinese experience to the realities of other countries, such as Russian Federation, it is necessary to fully understand the context, features and stages of the educational policy evolution of the People’s Republic of China, which is done in this article.

RUDN Journal of World History. 2022;14(4):389-409
pages 389-409 views

Security Policy Options for Japan in Three Time Frameworks

Toyoda T., Vaseneva E., Takahama R.

Abstract

This paper examines security policy options for Japan at the present stage that may be worth considering in the short term, the midterm, and the long term, respectively. Hence, the aim of the paper is to examine foreign policy security options for Japan in the foreseeable future. While providing a comprehensive overview of the Japanese foreign and security policy at the present stage, the article employs the case study methodological framework to analyze Japan’s foreign policy objectives in case of Tokyo’s relations with the most critical partners in the Asia-Pacific Region - namely, the United States, China, Russia, ASEAN, and Taiwan. Examining the origin and further development of the QUAD, the authors highlight the absence of ASEAN members and India’s hesitation to institutionalize the grouping, while analyzing the Russia-Japan relations they focus on common interests in security cooperation, as well on its limitations. As a result, in the short term, the expansion of the Japan-US alliance to the Indo-Pacific region is the most plausible option. However, without involving the ASEAN countries, the Free and Open IndoPacific (FOIP) strategy can only add Australia and India to the existing Japan-US alliance. In the midterm, an alliance with Russia may be, with some serious limitations, geographically a natural option. In the long term, Japan might need to find a proper place in a China-centered order in East Asia. Therefore, the authors conclude that the relative decline of US influence in East Asia is unavoidable in the coming decades, Japan must adjust or even reconsider its security policy.

RUDN Journal of World History. 2022;14(4):410-426
pages 410-426 views

History and prospects of cooperation between Russia, India and Bangladesh in the field of nuclear energy

Mikhailov S.A.

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze the cooperation of the Russian Federation (RF) with India and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (PRB) in the field of nuclear energy in the light of its history, current state and near-term prospects. The author states that recently (since 2009-2014) the sectoral interaction has significantly strengthened and implementation of the main joint nuclear projects has intensified which gives a positive effect for the bilateral relations. Mutually beneficial and successful economic projects provide consensus and mutual understanding in the context of the rapid changes in the global geopolitical situation in 2022. The Ukrainian crisis and the large-scale economic sanctions against Russia led to a negative impact on the economies of most countries of the world. The issues of energy security in this situation have become one of the key factors. The continuation and development of contacts in the nuclear field becomes fundamentally important providing the new opportunities for the countries of South Asia (SA) to strengthen their own security and independence. The gathered partnership experience of the relevant cooperation between RF and SA in the nuclear field can contribute to the intensification of political ties between countries which are quite important in the light of fundamental changes in the world order. The relevance of the study implies studying the possibilities of the practical application of the gathered experience and potential of interaction between RF, India and Bangladesh aimed at determination of the optimal ways and directions of cooperation in the nuclear field and its further intensification.

RUDN Journal of World History. 2022;14(4):427-442
pages 427-442 views

Russia’s Evolving Military Strategy in Response to NATO Expansion: Continuity and Changes

Gautam A.

Abstract

This article analyses the changes and continuities in the Russian Military Strategy in response to NATO’s expansionist policies. The methodology used is interdisciplinary in nature as the discourse is based and conceptualized in the historical context with social insights into the contemporary development of events. The paper is divided into two sections: the first concerns NATO’s expansion, both during and after the Cold War period; and the second examines the proposed Russian Military Strategy in response to NATO’s increasing eastward expansion. It is concluded that Russia’s national security concepts and evolving expressions of military doctrine closely follow the process of NATO’s expansion. The nature of forward deployment, defense concept and military strategy that NATO adopts are decisive in formulating and influencing not only Kremlin’s perception but also its reaction, especially in the military field to alliance enlargement.

RUDN Journal of World History. 2022;14(4):443-460
pages 443-460 views

Oriental Studies

Cambodia’s Decline and the Fall of Angkor as Pictured in the Chinese Sources during the Yuan and Early-Middle Ming dynasties (Late XIII - Early XV cc.)

Kolnin I.S.

Abstract

The fall of Angkor in the 15th century marked a turning point in the Cambodian history leading to the downfall of the Khmer civilization and the start of the so-called “post-Angkor period” which is also often referred to as the “Dark Age of Cambodia”. Local epigraphical sources almost completely disappear from the 13th up to the 16th centuries while the Royal Chronicles dealing with this timeframe were compiled much later, mostly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Therefore, primary sources of this era are very scarce. While it is commonly accepted among the modern researchers that the fall of Angkor was a continuous process and was not a result of a single Siamese attack or a natural calamity (moreover, various reasons for this gradual downfall have been outlined), the perception of this process by other political powers in the region, especially China, has been significantly understudied. In this work the author made an attempt to trace the transformation of depiction of Cambodia in the Chinese sources of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties (both official and private).

RUDN Journal of World History. 2022;14(4):461-484
pages 461-484 views

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