Vol 17, No 1 (2025)

The relevance of the research topic is due to the transformation of Saudi Arabia into one of the leading partners of India and China in the Persian Gulf. The purpose of the study is to reveal the structural changes in Saudi Arabia’s policy towards China and India. Beijing and New Delhi recognize the role of the House of Saudis in regulating world oil prices and the impact that Saudi Arabia’s hydrocarbon policy has on the economies of Western and Eastern countries. Based on the synchronous-comparative research method, the authors show the shifts of what magnitude can occur in relations between these states, when the elites are able to competently use each other’s considerable capabilities. However, China and India’s relations with Riyadh are determined not only by energy. Trade and economic, investment, military, scientific, and humanitarian spheres are promising areas of dialogue between these countries. It has been proven that there is an important political component in Saudi Arabia’s strategic thinking. The royal family is determined to work with China and India to create an alternative to its relations with the United States and the EU. In this case, the kingdom will be able to minimize Western pressure on issues such as democratization, terrorism, the economic situation, etc. The authors have identified the causes and features of the dynamics of Saudi Arabia’s rapprochement with Asian giants, whose interaction will accelerate in the coming years, but this will not become a panacea for Riyadh, but rather will lead the parties to a difficult a foreign policy choice that they will seek to avoid.

The relevance of the topic is due to the lingering high role of the US in the Middle East and its direct intervention in the region. As in the 1980s and the 1990s, nowadays Washington continues to directly influence the Middle East and be militarily present in it. A relevant example of this is the US comprehensive support of Israel`s war against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and the permanent deployment of American troops in Iraq. The novelty of the research lies in the introduction of previously unused sources in Arabic into scientific circulation and in the fact that the US policy in the Middle East is being analyzed from the perspective of the serious geopolitical changes currently happening in the region. The aim of the study is to analyze the US policy towards Iraq and its characteristics on the eve of the 1990-1991 Gulf War, during and straightly after it. In the study the following methods were used: generalization, system analysis, analogy, deduction, induction, historical and comparative method. The US Middle East policy in the second half of the 20th century stood on three pillars: energy resources, supporting Israel and curbing USSR`s influence in the region. After Iraq had occupied Kuwait, the White House`s initial “playing” with president Saddam Hussein turned into a hard line aimed at weakening his regime. According to the author, Washington insisted on a military solution to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti crisis and promoted anti-Iraqi agenda, realizing that UN sanctions do not undermine the stability of Hussein`s regime. After the end of the Gulf War the US decided not to continue the military campaign against Hussein`s regime with the aim that Iraq would remain a regional counterweight to the growing Iranian influence. The Gulf War became a rehearsal for George W. Bush`s full-scale Iraqi campaign in 2003.

This study has been prepared within the framework of one of the current areas of historical research - regional and urban history. It presents the modern evolution of the northwestern Chinese city from the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the transition to the policy of “reform and openness” in 1978. The purpose of the study is to determine the main vectors of the economic and demographic history of the city of Xi’an based on the use of Chinese-language materials and the application of historical, genetic and statistical research methods. As a result, it was established that the strengthening of the agricultural sector and industrial base of Xi’an was influenced by the restoration of the urban economy in the early years of the PRC, the construction of large facilities with the help of the Soviet Union in the 1950s, and inclusion in the “three-line construction” projects from 1969 to 1974. A decrease in the pace of urban construction was observed during the implementation of the “Great Leap Forward” campaign and occasionally during the “Cultural Revolution”. One of the main vectors of Xi’an’s development was the transfer of production capacities and scientific and technological experience from the provinces and cities of Eastern China to the northwestern city in question.

The study considers the development of the provincial government system in Korea during the formation of the state structure of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). The purpose of the study is to provide a brief explanatory overview of the regional administration system regulations as codified in the Gyeonggukdaejeon (the first of the fully preserved legal codes of Korea). Comparative analysis of the data of the Code and other historical sources performed by the author provides for assessment of the recruitment system, conditions of service, powers and duties of the governor’s corps and the place of this branch of the state apparatus in the political and socio-economic life of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The study reveals the role of the institution in the system of comprehensive control and development of territories, conditioned by the historical features of the centralized statehood formation, aimed at maximizing state revenues and the efficiency of administrative structures. The research can contribute to the broadening of knowledge about the nature of lifestyle and activities of officialdom and the specifics of power distribution and implementation in the preindustrial Korea.

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the need for scientific understanding of the phenomenon of Freemasonry in its development in the Belarusian lands from the moment of its inception and up to 1917 in its historical development. Quite a lot of scientific articles and monographs have been written about Russian Freemasonry. It is the subject of constant study by specialists. At the same time, the history of the Brotherhood in Belarus and Ukraine is practically unknown to readers because it very rarely became the subject of study. In this context, the purpose of this study is to introduce the audience to the main stories related to the activities of Freemasons in Belarus. The author concludes that the first Masonic lodges on the territory of Belarus appeared after the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Mogilev became the first center for the spread of Freemasonry in Belarus. Attention is drawn to the fact that, along with the influence exerted on Belarusian Freemasonry by the brothers of the lodges of St. Petersburg and Moscow, a certain influence came from the lodges located in the remaining part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Characterizing the events of the early twentieth century, it is noted that the politicization of Freemasonry in Russia as a whole, and in the Belarusian lands, in particular, the departure from many Masonic principles led to the emasculation of the “spirit of Freemasonry” and determined its development of organizations within the framework of the liberal paradigm.

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