No 7 (2023)

Due to the significant success of several dozen developing countries (DCs), which have embarked on the path of export-oriented industrialization, the DCs on the whole have noticeably overtaken in recent decades the advanced economies (AEs) in terms of the average annual growth rate (AAGR) of per capita GDP (PCGDP), share in world GDP growth, global investment spending and its effectiveness and labor productivity dynamics. According to the Augmented Human Development Index (AHDI), the gap between the AEs and the entire group of DCs has narrowed in 2000–2022 from 3.5 to 2.1 times.However, DCs are highly differentiated and have many problems. The Arab countries (ACs), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Latin America (LA) were catching up in 2000–2022 to the level of the AEs’ AHDI on the whole twice as slow as China, India and a number of other Asian DCs. The proportion of the poor in SSA and South Asia is on the whole 2.5 times higher than in other DCs. In 2000–2022 the AAGR of total factor productivity (TFP) for ACs, SSA and LA was on the whole three times lower than in Asian DCs. While in the AEs the total outstanding debt to GDP increased in 1980–2022 1.9 times, in DCs it rose 2.3 times to 210%, incl. in China up to 290% of GDP.In the context of growing geoeconomic and geopolitical rivalry in the world, in which the fourth technological revolution is unfolding (with the massive use of robots, super-powerful computers, artificial intelligence), DCs, if they want to stand up to these challenges, should substantially intensify efforts aimed at reducing the high level of inequality, improving the quality of human capital and upgrading government effectiveness.

The article analyzes the fight against corruption, violation of moral norms and rules of conduct, which began in the 1980s to infiltrate the armed forces of China as the socio-economic transformations in the country and the reform of the armed forces advance. These negative phenomena reflected the general situation of corruption in Chinese society, since the military personnel, as part of society, were not isolated from it. In the 2010s, corruption reached a large scale, corroding the army from the inside, reducing the combat and morale of the troops.The situation changed dramatically after Xi Jinping came to the supreme power in the country and the army. He personally led the fight against corruption in the country and the army, showed political will to remove top leaders from their positions, up to members of the Politburo of the CPC and vice-presidents of the Central Military Commission of the PRC.The author shows what results various anti-corruption measures brought, becoming an important component of the efforts of the PRC leadership to strengthen the country’s armed forces, and states that the comprehensive work to prevent corruption and decay in the army will continue for a long time.

The author analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy of Vietnam and other ASEAN member states. Although the mentioned countries experienced an economic downturn for the first time in 22 years in 2020, growth rates of macroeconomic indicators quickly recovered. Vietnam was able to withstand the pandemic shock better than other ASEAN members, despite the fact that it had the largest number of cumulative COVID-19 cases within the Association.During the first year of the pandemic, ASEAN coped with it quite successfully. However, the situation in Vietnam and ASEAN as a whole has changed dramatically with the appearance of the Delta strain in 2021. Vaccination in most ASEAN countries is successful (Brunei and Singapore are the best, Myanmar is the worst; Vietnam and Laos share the 2nd place), allowing to gradually reduce restrictions. Despite the pandemic, in November 2020, 15 states of the region signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. According to experts, Vietnam will benefit the most among RCEP member states.

This article focuses on the analysis of the implementation and maintenance of the Great Man-Made River project (GMMR) after Muammar Gaddafi’s Overthrow in 2011. Libya is one of the poorest countries in terms of freshwater per capita. Due to the need to cover the growing domestic and drinking demands, it was necessary to provide water supply to both cities on the narrow coastline of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, and small villages of Fezzan. The discovery of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System made it possible to start building an underground pipelines network using the resources of deep-lying water deposits. The chronological scope of the paper covers more than a decade or the period from 2011 to the present. The main research issue focuses on the study of the maintaining the Great Man-Made River in the modern times. The paper also emphasizes the damage caused by hostilities. In the context of the research issue, the authors analyze a number of historical facts and data regarding the development of the water policy as well as key Hydraulic Engineering projects in Libya.

In March, Center for Russian-African Relations and Foreign Policy of African Countries of the Institute for African Studies (Russian Academy of Sciences) held a conference “Africa – the Rising Center of an Emerging Multipolar World”. The conference took place during a period of sharp aggravation of the international situation, which required for Russia to revise the directions of its foreign policy with the focus on some countries, in particular, the countries of Africa.The event held in the format of a videoconference was attended by scientists of the IAfr RAS, MGIMO University, RISI, Institute of Economics (Academy of Sciences of Belarus), Research Economic Institute of the Ministry of Economy (Republic of Belarus), teachers and students of Patrice Lumumba RUDN University, Moscow State University, TISBI University of Management (Kazan, Russia), Samara State University of Economics.The role and place of African countries in the system of international relations and in strategies of the main centers of power, the African policy of the world’s leading players, as well as the state and prospects of Russian- and Belarusian-African cooperation in the context of a sharp aggravation of the international situation and tough economic sanctions imposed by the West on Russia and Belarus were discussed. The speeches contained recommendations on strengthening both countries mutually beneficial partnership with African states, which may be used by government organizations and business community.

The formation of postcolonial discourse is inextricably linked with the analysis of the changes in African countries over the past decades. A wide range of ideas replicated by postcolonial theorists, from Franz Fanon to Achille Mbembe, is currently engaged, but their detailed study raises many questions. How do the traditions of the pre-colonial and colonial past and the post-colonial future correlate in contemporary Africa? What is the postcolony and is it related to the results of decolonization? Is there a postcolonial reality and what is actually the main focus of postcolonial research? The philosopher of Cameroonian origin A.Mbembe, the author of the book “On the Postcolony” (2000), believes that postcolonial discourse is still being formed and defines its subject: hence the presence of such phenomena as postcolonial trauma, postcolonial syndrome and various kinds of “grimaces” of postcoloniality. The reasons for their occurrence lie not so much in the colonial past, but in people’s distorted ideas about each other. Stereotypes and vestiges of xenophobia are receding as education and culture develop in society. However, the fact that post-colonial studies can now influence this process remains only a dream.The postcolonial paradigm is present in almost all genres of research and literature. The actualization of post-colonial problems has also affected the artistic environment. An example is the works of the famous London designer Yinka Shonibare of Nigerian origin.