Asia Policy Research Articles

Book Review: Community Radio Policies in South Asia by Preeti Raghunath

Padmaja Shaw reviews “Community Radio Policies in South Asia” by Preeti Raghunath. Raghunath applies “deliberative policy ecology approach” to study how policy frameworks evolved in four South Asian nations, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Raghunath argues that the “deliberative policy ecology approach” is rooted in emancipatory politics that brings in the stakeholders at the bottom of the policy food chain. Raghunath’s intricate map of policy formulation in post-colonial societies is an engaging revelation of the continued contradictions between the developmentalist instincts of the state and the push of grassroots voices to claim their legitimate space in decision making.

LEADERSHIP IN THE MULTIPOLAR WORLD: CHINA’S STRATEGY IN CENTRAL ASIA

In the multipolar world regional powers play an increasingly important role, as they strive to become leaders and shape the regional order. It is a common situation, when in one region several powers compete to become a sole leader, however, other types of interaction also exist for example, asymmetric leadership. Asymmetric leadership denotes a situation when one power does not strive to become a sole leader in one region in all spheres, but the scope and type of its involvement in addressing common problems in the region varies. This paper explores the phenomenon of asymmetric leadership using the PRC policy in Central Asia as an empirical case. The theoretical part of the paper outlines the major points of the leadership theory in international relations, which are later used to evaluate China’s policy in Central Asia. In the empirical part we explore institutions, regional focus, goals and resources of the Chinese initiatives, as well as analyze factors that influence regional strategy of a rising power. In Central Asia the PRC has expressed leadership ambitions in several issue areas, such as non-traditional security, economic cooperation and development assistance, financial governance, and environmental cooperation. However, its strategy has varied from sphere to sphere in terms of institutionalization, overall regional focus, involvement of other regional power, etc. For example, in the sphere of non-traditional security and financial governance, the PRC has initiated the establishment of special institutions, which are absent in other spheres. The case of Central Asia, which has traditionally been Russian sphere of influence, allows us to investigate the possible responses of one regional power to leadership projects of another. Russia plays different roles in Chinese projects in Central Asia: a co-leader in counter-terrorism sphere, a follower in financial governance, a competitor in economic cooperation, and an observer in environmental protection sphere. The role of Russia is determined by the available resources in each area and its own leadership ambitions, as well as the desire of the PRC to maintain friendly relations with Moscow.

U.S. Main Policies in Central Asia

The article analyses the U.S. policy in Central Asia with the focus on the policy of the Trump administration. It highlights its main areas of interests and features, examines the U.S. bilateral relations with Central Asian countries. The American interest in the region was manifested immediately after the collapse of the USSR and was linked to its geostrategic position and energy resources. Initially, the efforts of the White House were focused on the elimination of Soviet weapons and the promotion of business contacts. The role of Central Asia in the U.S. foreign policy increased when the military operation in Afghanistan was launched. With the achievement of agreements on the use of military infrastructure in Central Asia states, the U.S. military presence in the region significantly expanded, and cooperation through defense agencies began to actively develop. Contacts in the economic area intensified, dozens of American companies rushed to Central Asian countries, and the volume of American investments increased significantly. In order to form pro-American societies and elites, the work to promote “democratic values” has been intensified. With the arrival of the Trump administration, the emphasis was shifted towards military cooperation. Military-technical cooperation, joint military maneuvers and educational programs, exchange of experience in the field of combating terrorism, illegal migration, human trafficking and drug trafficking have increased. Business contacts, trade, economic and energy cooperation have been intensified. Washington has somewhat reduced the degree of criticism of the Central Asian countries for “problems in the area of democratic governance”, nevertheless, the U.S. continues its attempts to democratize the region through NGOs sponsored by non-state funds close to the American Democratic Party. The Central Asian region will remain in the focus of the U.S. foreign policy for a long period of time, regardless of whether the Republican or Democratic administration is in power, taking into account its geostrategic position, natural resources, situation in Afghanistan, desire to weaken the positions of Russia and China in this area.

Индийско-китайские отношения: борьба «тигра» и «дракона» за место под солнцем

The article analyzes the current state of India-China relations, their main elements and prospects. We identify key factors strengthening bilateral India-China cooperation including the high level of political interaction, institutional framework of the relations, common approaches to solving the core issues on the international agenda and extensive economic ties. We also study the main fields of confrontation between India and China which include territorial disputes, fight for access to water and energy resources and rivalry for regional and global influence. The article identifies the elements that undermine the established system of the relations, especially mutual enmity between the states, imbalances in their trade, the third parties’ policies in Asia, divergent stances on some regional and international issues which are crucial for both countries, as well as the spreading COVID-19 infection – a new factor in the international politics and economy. We conclude that India-China relations are characterized by ambiguity and controversy. On the one hand, they have a solid political and economic foundation, but, on the other, they are complicated by a wide range of old and new problems that do not allow the sides to build effective cooperation in many spheres. We also provide a characterization of India-China ‘forced partnership’ and focus on the phenomenon of securitization of bilateral economic interaction. The paper pays particular attention to the assessment of complementarity of the two countries’ economic systems. It analyzes the prospects of India-China cooperation, opportunities for deepening their ties in trade and investments, energy sphere, science and technology, culture and interpersonal relations. We have also considered the possibility of the confrontation escalation in a range of relations fields into an open military conflict and assessed whether existing differences and mutual claims can impact future development of the ties between India and China. The conclusion underlines both disinterest of both sides in a full-scale war and unpredictability of India’s and China’s behavior in the conditions of instability in the international and regional arena.

Chinese empire or a prototype of responsible global power: discussions on the Great Qing in China and the West

In the light of China’s rise, it is of great interest to consider the views that are widespread in the PRC on the nature of Chinese state and the proper mode of international relations. Considering that Chinese leadership has proclaimed the goal of "rejuvenation" of the Chinese nation, modern assessments of China's historical past allow us to take a fresh look at the prospects for China's internal development as well as Chinese foreign policy in Asia. In this regard the era of the Qing Dynasty is of particular interest. During that period Chinese territory expanded approximately to its modern borders, and the relations with the neighbors underwent a transition from the tributary system to the modern Westphalian type of international relations. There exist various interpretations of Chinese foreign policy’s traditions. Those interpretations are largely determined by the attitude to China's current behavior at the international stage. While the Chinese rulers have adopted the concept of traditional Chinese world order that is of Western origin, many Western researchers nowadays question this concept and tend to describe pre-revolutionary China as one of many expansionist empires in Eurasia. That point of view is subject to sharp criticism from Chinese authors. The portrayal of Qing China as one of the empires can entail serious consequences for international relations as well as the territorial integrity of the PRC. In order to achieve their goals in domestic and foreign policy, Chinese leaders strive to build a historical narrative in such a way that it combines the elements of various historical periods which are most profitable in the current circumstances, including the history of Silk Road.

ЗОВНІШНЬОПОЛІТИЧНА СТРАТЕГІЯ США НА ДАЛЕКОМУ СХОДІ В 1901–1904 РР.

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the formation of US Far Eastern policy in the early twentieth century. The author identifies the transformation of the country's foreign policy from isolationism to active action as key aspects of the study. Determining the strategic need of the United States to gain a foothold in the Far East reveals the main foreign policy vectors. A special role in this was played by US President Theodore Roosevelt and Secretary of State John Hay, who were the ideologues of the new, "Pacific era" and "open door" policy, particularly in China, which should have led to the beginning of the "American century". Achieving these goals was possible by maintaining friendly relations with Britain and Japan as opposed to Russia. Such a strategy weakened the position of the latter in the region and, as a consequence, increased US trade with the countries of the Far East. The article also considers the main events that led to the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and the role of the United States in it, which sought to gain a foothold in the Far East through flexible diplomacy. The author notes the main successes in this direction, in particular, the assessment of the talks between the US Secretary of Defense W. Taft and the Prime Minister of Japan T. Katsura both at the official and unofficial levels. Particular attention is paid to the economic component in the relationship between the Far East (including China) and official governmental and private organizations in the United States. The author notes that, in fact, US policy in China and Japan did not differ from the policy of Western European countries, but the forms and methods of their expansion were different. The study of this problem is important both for studying the peculiarities of US policy in Asia in the past, and for understanding current international relations in the Far East.

Formation of the foreign policy course of US president J.F. Kennedy on the Peoples Republic of China (january-october 1961)

The article investigates the formation of the foreign policy course of US President John F. Kennedy on China in January-October 1961. There were characterized the election statements of the US presidential candidate from the Democratic Party J.F. Kennedy on China. The practical implementation of pre-election initiatives by the administration of the President John F. Kennedy in the Chinese direction in January-October 1961 was studied. There were analyzed reasons, course and consequences of intensification of Washington’s foreign policy strategy towards Beijing during the during investigated period. The role of various groups in the American establishment in the process of forming the foreign policy course of the new administration towards China in January-October 1961 is outlined. It is described the specific US foreign policy actions towards communist China at the beginning of J.F. Kennedy presidential period. The victory of J.F. Kennedy in the presidential election in 1960 was accompanied by a series of changes in the system of geopolitical and military priorities of the United States. The new administration’s more realistic approach to China was due primarily to the fact that Beijing, which renounced its alliances and claimed the role of a “third force”, was a weak player in the international arena and therefore minor, insignificant deviations from traditional policies of “containment and isolation” seemed acceptable. Moreover, the policy of “isolation” did not justify itself, as China has intensified its foreign policy, established relations with many countries, including the US allies. Gradually, the number of states that supported China’s demands for a seat in the UN grew, which created a real prospect for broad recognition of communist China. At the beginning of the presidency of J.F. Kennedy in January-October 1961, his administration was unable to quickly develop and begin to implement a holistic concept of “new frontiers” for China. His Chinese policy was inextricably linked to the US foreign policy in Asia and reflected the clash of American and Chinese interests in the region. At the same time, the representatives of the American establishment did not have a clear idea of how they could influence Soviet-Chinese relations in order to deepen the rift between the USSR and China, and what concrete benefits they could derive from this. This was due to a number of reasons. First of all, when he was elected, the administration of J.F. Kennedy joined the more important events at that time in terms of the US military and political interests than the policy towards China (European problems, issues of Atlantic unity, the Berlin crisis). Secondly, Washington still viewed communist China as a state that threatened American interests in Asia and was eager to expand its influence and strengthen its military power. An important influence on the formation of the foreign policy course of the administration J.F. Kennedy also had at the beginning of his presidency the fact that, having won the election with a minimal advantage, he did not risk starting a major change in Chinese policy and abandoning the policy of “containment”. In such way, the 35th President of the United States tried, at first, to show that he respected public opinion within the country, which was negative about communist China. Secondly, by demonstrating his propensity for the heredity of politics, he hoped to strengthen his vulnerable foreign policy position. That is why J.F. Kennedy, who did not rule out the possibility of changing China’s US policy, saw in his own practical actions toward China at the time no reason to abandon the doctrine of “containment”. Particularly, the idea of “containment” of China was the basis of a number of decisions of the John F. Kennedy administration, which eventually led to the escalation of American military intervention in Indochina.

The Green Revolution in the Global South: Science, Politics, and Unintended Consequences by R. Douglas Hurt

Reviewed by: The Green Revolution in the Global South: Science, Politics, and Unintended Consequences by R. Douglas Hurt Jonathan E. Robins The Green Revolution in the Global South: Science, Politics, and Unintended Consequences. By r. douglas hurt. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2020. 280 pp. ISBN 978-0-8173-2051-5. $49.95 (hardcover). R. Douglas Hurt's The Green Revolution in the Global South is an ambitious attempt to evaluate long-running controversies over the planning, deployment, and impacts of Green Revolution technologies in the second half of the twentieth century. Arranged geographically, with chapters on Latin America (mostly Mexico), South Asia (mostly India), East and Southeast Asia, China, and sub-Saharan Africa, the book follows the Green Revolution from the 1950s into the 2000s. A final chapter on the "gene revolution" rounds out the study. Hurt describes the book as "a highly selective effort to synthesize the literature and trace the acceptance or rejection of the Green Revolution over time" (p. 4). Each chapter pits agricultural scientists, who delivered high-yielding varieties and related technical inputs to food-deficit states, against their critics. The latter are described as no more than that, occasionally with adjectives like "social scientist" or "Marxian" attached. The book defines success in terms set by agricultural scientists: did total food production increase or not? Readers will find a complicated, and at times confusing, picture. The Green Revolution was a success in Mexico, but by the mid-1970s it was a failure (p. 27). In China, famine was "no longer a possibility" after Green Revolution technologies were implemented, yet "food security . . . had not been achieved" (pp. 111–112). Critics of Green Revolution policies in South Asia allegedly "did not understand the difference between biotechnology, which is scale neutral . . . and the economy of scale associated with mechanization," (p. 65) yet only a few pages earlier we read that biotechnologies were too costly for most farmers (p. 52). This back-and-forth is, in part, an artifact of the linear chronology and attempt at comprehensive coverage found in each chapter. Hurt disavows modernization theory in the introduction, but the analysis that follows reproduces its key claims: that farmers in fooddeficit countries were tradition-bound and backward; that rural markets were underdeveloped or nonexistent; and, particular to the Green Revolution, that technology was scale-neutral, available to anyone willing to learn and work. The book frames social dislocation as an "unexpected outcome" of the Green Revolution, but it was exactly what modernization theorists predicted. High-producing commercial [End Page 725] farms would displace peasants, pushing "unproductive" labor to other sectors. Hurt contends that agricultural scientists "never believed that they had responsibility for creating a more equitable world," as if agriculture existed in a social vacuum (p. 183). In India, for example, Hurt argues that "most critics failed to realize that class and gender historically determined the social and economic problems of the subcontinent and not Green Revolution science" (pp. 51–52). Yet, Green Revolution technologies worked within historic class, caste, and gender contexts, and technologies often intensified inequitable outcomes, including hunger. This was exactly what the critics were writing about. Hurt resorts to "ideology" to explain much of their analysis, even while pointing to the importance of land reform in Green Revolution success stories, and in documenting the negative social and environmental impacts of Green Revolution policies. Each chapter surveys contemporary agricultural and social science publications, and relies heavily on a few recent books. These include excellent titles like Sigrid Schmalzer's Red Revolution, Green Revolution (2016), but also nonspecialist books like Martin Meredith's Fate of Africa (2005). There are fewer references to the growing body of recent articles and dissertations on the Green Revolution and its antecedents. These studies demonstrate that "traditional" agriculture was not timeless, but responded to market pressures, colonialism, and other forces. Focused solely on cereal crops, the book has no room to address cash crops like cotton, which were vitally important in peasant decisions about food crops. And as recent studies—and Hurt—show, peasants often rejected Green Revolution crops for sensible reasons: they were too thirsty for rainfed regions, produced poorly without costly fertilizers, had unacceptable flavors, or were outproduced in...

European Union and Central Asia: New Horizons for Enhanced Cooperation

The article examines the role of the European Union as a stable and promising partner for the Central Asian region at the current stage. The new strategy of relations between the European Union and Central Asia, adopted in June 2019, that takes into account global changes in the international arena, as well as the priorities of the countries of the region in their relations with the EU, is a confirmation of this fact. It is expected that the updated EU policy in relation to the Central Asian countries will allow to strengthen existing cooperation and focus on the most productive projects and, most importantly, modify the approaches and aspects of interaction in order to enter a better format of interaction. The study highlights the key approaches and tools of the European Union in implementing its policy in Central Asia, as well as an analysis of some current and prospective joint projects/ The application the method of content analysis made it possible to study the content of individual strategic documents of the European Union concerning the region. The method of systematic analysis made it possible to approach the research topic as a set of issues arising in a holistic process. Thus, the author demonstrates the features of the studied phenomena, as well as their relationship and interdependence. Keywords: European Union; Central Asia; the new EU Strategy for Central Asia; cooperation; connectivity; partnership for sustainability; partnership for prosperity; European Green Deal, a pandemic assistance program; Afghan student training program in Central Asia &nbsp

ТУРКМЕНЫ АХАЛ-ТЕКЕ И МЕРВА В КОНТЕКСТЕ ОТНОШЕНИЙ ПОГРАНИЧНЫХ АДМИНИСТРАЦИЙ РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ (1870–1880-е гг.)

The article analyzes specific features in relations of Russian imperial frontier regions that participated in the conquest of Central Asia. By the example of the conflict of the authorities of Caucasus and Turkestan towards Turkmen tribes of the Eastern Caspian region in the 1870s-1880s, the author clarified the influence of such conflicts on the effectiveness of the Russian imperial policy in Central Asia. The sources the author used are correspondence of Caucasian and Turkestan authorities and their representatives in Turkmenistan, notes of contemporaries - Russian officials who visited Turkmen Ahal-Teke and Merv oasises during the analyzed period, and works of Russian and British analytics who observed the situation in the Eastern Caspian region. In 1873 the Russian Empire established protectorate over the Khanate of Khiva and took control over Turkmen tribes of Akal-Teke and Merv. These territories were in the sphere of influence of two regional administrations - Caucasus and Turkestan. Since their powers in Turkmenistan were not clearly distributed, Caucasian deputy Grand Prince Mikhail Nikolaevich and Turkestan Governor-General K.P. Von Kaufman both tried to strengthen their positions over Turkmen oasises, and a conflict between them began. Turkmen and Khivan ruling elites tried to use this conflict to achieve their own goals, and, as a result, the Khanate of Khiva (a protectorate of Russia) established its own suzerainty over Turkmens who were independent de jure: over Akhal-Teke in the mid-1870s and over Merv at the beginning of the 1880s, and sent their deputies there. The presence of a Khivan deputy in Akhal-Teke was a personal initiative of the khan of Khiva and was disapproved by both Russian regional authorities. Similar actions of Khiva towards Merv the khan were approved by Turkestan administration: they believed that they could strengthen their own control over Turkmens through their vassal. As a result, Khivan deputies in Merv with credential letters from Turkestan administration realized the policy which contradicted the plans of Russian authorities in the region. As it became clear for Turkestan, its administration requested the khan of Khiva to recall his deputies from Merv. However, the new Governor-General M.G. Chernyaev soon approved the continuation of this practice and began a new stage of conflict with Caucasian administration. That caused a substantial decrease of Russian influence in Turkmenistan. The author finds that the reasons of the conflict were connected with the uncertainty of the powers of regional imperial authorities in Central Asia, as well as with personal ambitions of regional administrators who intended to play the key role in this policy. Only the central imperial authorities' interference in the situation along with the simultaneous resignation of regional administrators with discretionary power and claims to leadership allowed regulating the relations in the region.

Contemporary trends of uzbekistan's regional policy in central asia

Contemporary trends of uzbekistan's regional policy in central asia

Seasonal variations in characteristics, sources and diurnal patterns of carbonaceous and water-soluble constituents in urban aerosols from the east coast of tropical India

Environmental context The export of various man-made pollutants from northern India has a large impact on aerosol formation processes, their transformations and regional environmental chemistry over tropical peninsular India. The quantitative source apportionment of organic aerosols performed in this study provides a better understanding of their sources and implications for climate and air-quality management policies in South Asia. Abstract This study highlights seasonal characteristics, sources, daytime (sea-breeze) and night-time (land-breeze) variations of carbonaceous and water-soluble ionic components in PM10 (<10 µm particulate matter) aerosols from the east coast (Chennai city) of tropical India. Elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC) were found to be higher in winter when air masses were delivered from the northern part of India covered by the Indo-Gangetic-Plains whereas lower concentrations were observed during summer and monsoon associated with marine air masses. Sea salts (Na+ and Cl–), dust (Ca2+ and Mg2+) and nitrates (NO3–) were found to be highest in monsoon, suggesting these species may be co-transported over the sampling site with marine air masses. Using air mass back-trajectory analysis, linear relationships between chemical species and specific mass ratios, we demonstrate that east coast urban aerosols are strongly influenced by aged anthropogenic sources including biomass burning in winter and post monsoon while aged marine emissions mixed with local pollutants (dust and vehicular) are important in monsoon and summer. Further, the mesoscale phenomenon was reflected in measured chemical constituents during the study period. Positive-matrix-factorisation (PMF) analysis confirmed that OC aerosols are largely attributable to chemically aged anthropogenic (53 % in the day and 39 % in the night) and combustion-derived (17 % and 39 %) sources in winter and sea salts mixed with dust and vehicular emissions (61 % and 52 %) during monsoon. These important insights about the sources and formation processes of organic aerosols will help in understanding the formation of atmospheric brown clouds over south Asia.

India–West Asia Relations Under the ‘Nationalist’ Modi Government

India’s West Asia policy discourse has traditionally revolved around its energy dependency, security and the welfare of the 7 million Indians living in the region. In recent years, particularly since the coming of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014, the issues of counterterrorism, security, defence cooperation and non-oil trade have gained in importance. This qualitative shift is partially guided and supported by both pragmatism and the ideological differences that the BJP and its predecessor, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), had been maintaining against the West Asia policy of the earlier governments led by the Congress party. Through explaining the ideological perspectives of the Indian National Congress (INC) and the BJP, this article argues that the changing global and West Asian landscape, the consolidation of Chinese influence in and around India’s land and maritime boundaries, the instability in the energy market and the insecurity of the Arab uprising–hit West Asian monarchies have provided the BJP government an opportune time to rethink and reorient India’s relations with West Asia. While ideological determinants dominate the public discourse, as the BJP’s top leadership elaborates in the public domain, the policy choices made are not always in tune with these. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often preferred the pragmatic to the ideological, and this he has done over the expectations of his party and supporters.

Перспективы политики Джозефа Байдена в отношении Восточной Азии

The article provides a forecast of a potential Joseph Biden’s East Asian policy. The forecast is prepared using the recently developed indirect coding language (ICL), which allows to interpret any state as a system and to build models based on official strategic documents. Through this approach, governmental strategies and official documents accepted as the ones can be translated into specific codes, which are connected to particular subsystems characterizing different aspects of a state’s development. The dynamic character of the model is provided by a temporal approach. The author analyses the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance using the ICL to build a model matching the interpretation of the global and regional development by J. Biden and his administration. Dynamically J. Biden’s policy inherits basic goals of Donald Trump’s in general or partly. Substantial changes of priorities can only be observed in food-agricultural, ecological-environmental and military subsystems. It allows forecasting that in general the 46th president will follow major directions of his predecessor’s policy. ICL-modeling of the J. Biden’s interpretation of East Asia allows forecasting the next basic parameters of probable future US policy in the region. First, the Chinese vector will be its core while all other priorities will be regarded as subordinate with an exception to counteracting the regional threats posed by North Korea. Second, policy toward China as a complicated threat will create a dividing line in several dimensions between United States and its allies and partners on the one hand and PRC and its partners on the other hand. It will affect such fields as economy, trade, technology, energy industry, raw materials, environment and ecology, military development, law, civil and humanitarian affairs. The dividing line will acquire global character because the US will be pursuing their policy priorities in the relations with the Indo-Pacific allies and partners as well as NATO ones, as the Pacific region recently becomes more important. Third, there is less and less space for the US and China cooperation. In the nearest future, it is likely to be limited to the climate change problem, health and nuclear non-proliferation.

Оренбургский губернатор И. И. Неплюев и российская политика умиротворения казахской знати после смерти хана Абулхаира (1748—1750 гг.)

The article examines the activities of the Orenburg governor I. I. Neplyuev to clarify the circumstances of the death of Abulkhair Khan of the Junior Zhuz, which happened in 1748 as a result of an unequal battle with the Sultan of the Middle Zhuz Barak, and the “policy of pacification” of his heir Nuraly Khan. The analysis of departmental and diplomatic documents shows that the subsequent death of Barak Sultan two years later was perceived by the Orenburg administration as an ordinary and expected incident. The legitimization of Khan’s power by the Russian monarch, even more than a treaty of citizenship, turned the heirs of Abulkhair into vassals of the Russian Empire. Thus, the events related to the change of power in the Junior Zhuz in the middle of the 18th century should be considered as an important indicator of the involvement of the Kazakh elite in the Russian political space. At the same time, the essence of the Central Asian policy of Russia, based on the “balance of power” of competing clan families and the pacification of their warlike aspirations, remained unchanged.

Trade Elasticities and the Marshall Lerner Condition: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is the pioneer in adopting market-friendly policies in South Asia and has gone through different foreign exchange rate regimes since 1977. Since then, the country has experienced rapid fluctuations in the trade balance and the exchange rate. The empirical studies on Marshall Lerner condition have suggested mixed results in the global context. However, this paper aims to estimate the import and export price elasticity to determine the validity of the Marshall Lerner condition in the Sri Lankan context. For this purpose, annual time series data for the period from 1980 to 2018 were used in estimating the elasticities. The results suggest that the addition of overall export price elasticity and overall import price elasticity as a ratio of export expenditure over import expenditure is less than one, which indicates that the trade balance of Sri Lanka deteriorates when the domestic currency depreciates against foreign currency. Hence, the findings of the study revealed that the Marshall Lerner condition is satisfied in the Sri Lankan context.

European Union and Central Asia: new trends of cooperation in current circumstances

Determination of clear contours of European policy for Central Asia, which could satisfy the interests of both the European Union and the countries of the region, took quite a long time, and is still at the stage of forming common approaches to the implementation of mutually beneficial cooperation. The first program documents of the European Union in relation to Central Asia, called strategies, were to a greater extent only action plans aimed at maintaining its political and economic presence in the region. Meanwhile, the Central Asian countries are always interested in pragmatic interaction with the European Union on equal basis. In 2019, the European Union adopted a new Strategy for Central Asia, which replaced the previous 2007 document. According to European politicians, it marks a new stage in relations between the two regions with improved approaches to building interaction between them. The purpose of the article is to analyze new trends in relations between Central Asia and the European Union from the point of view of both participants of this process and the evolution of the relevant EU policy documents.

NEW EU STRATEGY FOR CENTRAL ASIA: HISTORY, VISION, PROSPECTS

Today, the Central Asian region is once again becoming a point of attraction for the interests of the international community—in geopolitical, as well as in trade and economic terms. The interests of major world powers intersect here, and each has its own approach to establishing relations with the regional countries. The European Union, which never considered this region a geopolitical priority, has been implementing its own Central Asia Strategy since 2007. In July 2017, the Council of the European Union decided to completely revise the Strategy based on new realities, as well as the ambitions and priorities of the regional states in their relations with the EU. A new strategy for relations between the European Union and Central Asia was adopted in June 2019. The revision of the strategy is slated to allow the EU to strengthen its cooperation with the Central Asian countries, highlight the most effective projects, and revise those aspects of interaction that did not bring the desired results. Currently, there is an intensification of intra-regional cooperation in Central Asia; there are positive trends in the development of dialog on important issues of the regional agenda. For this reason, the approaches and tools of European diplomacy in the implementation of its policy in Central Asia are expected to undergo significant adjustments as the Strategy is updated. The subject of this article is precisely this transit period in the relations between the European Union and Central Asia.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CENTRAL ASIA IN CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY AND BEIJING’S SOFT POWER INSTRUMENTS

Throughout history, Central Asia was seen as a vital region by the great powers that struggled for the influence in this region in the past. After the breakdown of the Soviet Union, new independent states have emerged in Central Asia. This article provides an analysis of China’s implementation of foreign policy towards Central Asian states through soft power. China recently implemented the idea of soft power as a crucial foreign policy instrument. The study focuses on the fact that soft diplomacy can be essential in forming an attractive image of China in the international arena. Furthermore, it argues that China’s ambition to become more authoritative in the region is associated with the activation of efforts in its soft power policy. Employment of soft power is entirely determined by China’s national interests. It is in China’s national interests to establish a secure and peaceful climate for its economic advance, to adjust its vast and growing energy needs, and to curtail the domination of other powerful actors. Thus, this article offers an analysis of China’s soft power and its application within the Central Asian region in pursuit of its foreign policy tasks. The paper aims to solve the following problem: What is China’s soft power and how does it use it in the Central Asian states? To address the problem, we compare Chinese soft power to the policy of other regional actors. The goal is to study China’s foreign policy in Central Asia, with the purpose of highlighting Chinese political strategy in the region. The article begins with the discussion of China’s foreign policy chief aims and objectives to understand the meaning of good neighborhood diplomacy, which forms the basis of China’s soft power diplomacy in Central Asia.

Russian-Central Asian Relations in the Works of Modern French Researchers

The article examines the views of modern French researchers on the relations between Russia and the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. This allows us to identify various interpretations of Russian foreign policy, and to understand the main approaches of French scholars analyzing the goals and tasks of Russian geostrategy in the region. As the article demonstrates, French historiography, along with the objectivist view on the Central Asian vector in Russian foreign policy, also includes works of ideological nature. Special emphasis is put on French works that focus on Russian political authors who speak of Russias neo-imperialism. These studies explain the Russian policy in Central Asia through the ruling elites ambition to resurrect an empire in the post-Soviet space and to return superpower status to Russia. Of special interest is the position of authors who try to explain the Russian attitude to the Central Asian region as, on the one hand, an expression of nostalgic feelings harbored by a great part of the population about the nations former greatness, assuming that these feelings have an impact on the leaderships policies, and on the other hand, as the Russian leaderships attempt to use Russias active return to the international arena for the consolidation and self-identification of society. It is observed that some French authors speak of a New Great Game. This very popular concept considers the actions of Russia and other powers operating in the region (USA and China) as a continuation of the historical rivalry between the Russian and British empires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Russian authors have always been interested in French historiography; this is due to the latters scientific prestige and objectivity, and in particular its application of methodologies that further develop the tradition of the Annales School. At the same time, the growing French scholarship on the issue of Russia and post-Soviet Central Asian republics has not yet been subject to close and complex consideration, which defines the novelty of the article.