News

Wednesday 16 December 2020

12th Conference "Muslim Near and Middle East - Issues of Modern Development, History, and Historiography"

 
The conference was organized by the Center of Near and Middle East Studies (Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethnic Kurdistan, Neighboring Countries) of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The event was conducted in full-time and part-time format, some of the participants read the reports remotely using the Zoom platform.

The conference started on December the 14th 2020 at 11.00 AM in the Hall of Academic Councils. A.K. Alikberov, the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, made a welcoming speech. During the first plenary session, reports were made by: V.Ya. Belokrenitsky (the Head of the Center of the Middle East Study of the Institute of Oriental Studies) "The modern Middle East: geopolitics, the structure of society, and management of social processes'', N.М. Mammadova (the Head of the Iranian Sector of the Center of the Middle East Study) "The nature and characteristics of social modernization in Iran", N.Yu. Ulchenko (the Head of the Turkish Sector of the Center of the Middle East Study) "New aspects of interaction between the government and the business community in Turkey during the rule of the Justice and Development Party." 

Further, the conference was held in two sections. At the first section, the reports were presented by: V. M. Akhmedov (Center of Research of General Problems of the Modern East of the Institute of Oriental Studies) "The Role of the army and the religious factor in the Syrian crisis", staff members of the Center of Near and Middle East Studies : Ivanova I.I. "Russian-Turkish relations in the light of the Syrian crisis", Sazhin V.I. “Iran in Syria (2011-2020). History, problems, and future.", I.E. Fedorova "Iran and the conflict in Nagorniy-Karabakh", A.G. Gadzhiev "The particularities of Turkey-EU interaction in the Eastern Mediterranean under the conditions of Turkish-Greek tensions at the present stage (2018-2020).", V. I. Yurtaev (RUDN University) "Iran and India: the challenges of strategic partnership", L.M. Ravandi-Fadai (the Center of the Central Asia Study, the Caucasus and the Ural-Volga Region of the Institute of Oriental Studies) “New issues in relations between Iran and Iraq.”

After the break, the reports were read by the staff of the Center of Near and Middle East Studies : S.L. Volkova "The main directions of the geography of Turkey's foreign trade at the present stage (2014-2020)", A.N. Obukhov "Ownership structure features in the Iranian petrochemical industry", I.A. Svistunova (IMEMO) "Turkey's policy in the field of education for non-Muslim minorities", staff of the Center of Near and Middle East Studies: I.G. Saetov "Mehmet Zahid Kotku and the Turkish jamaat", “Iskander Pasha: Sufis among islam, politics, and the holdings", A.I. Polischuk "The features of islamic traditions in the cultural life of Iran", I.Kh. Mirzoev (postgraduate student of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Saint Petersburg), "The reformers camp on the eve of the presidential elections in Iran in 2021", M.S. Kameneva (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) "The Iranian community in Canada: Canadian Iranians or Iranian Canadians?", V.I. Mesamed (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel ) "The Jewish community in Iran - the ambivalence of existence under the Islamic regime." 

Within the framework of the second section, the reports were made by the staff members of the Center of Near and Middle East Studies: I.N.Serenko "Russia-China-Pakistan: from the "Silk Road" to the "Golden Ring" of Eurasian integration?", R.E. Prokhorov "Sino-Pakistani relations in the system of international relations of the Near and Middle East”, О.М. Nessar "The Afghan peace process: the interim estimates and forecasts", S.Poya "The impact of relations between the United States and the states of the region on the political processes in Afghanistan (a systemic approach to the relationship analysis between the domestic and foreign policy of Afghanistan)", N.А. Zamaraeva "Pakistan: democratic institutions and the army (challenges of 2018-2020)", O.E. Mitrofanenkova "The problem of female drug addiction in Afghan society", as well as V.P. Kirichenko (the Center for the Study of General Problems of the Modern East of the Institute of Oriental Studies) "The condition of Ismaili communities in Pakistan", E.V. Brusentseva (ISAA MSU) " Participation specifics of ethno-regional forces in the social and political life of Pakistan (on the example of the Beludj and Pushtun movements)”.

The opening of the conference's second day took place on December the 16th 2020 at 11:00. The conference, as on the first day, was held both, in full-time and part-time formats; some of the participants made presentations online using the Zoom platform.

The conference work that day was held in the two sessions format in the Hall of Academic Councils. The following people made presentations at the first session: K.V. Vertyaev (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies, the Head of the Kurdistan Sector) "The autonomous administration of the Northern and Eastern Syria (Rojava): the phenomenon of proto-statehood as part of an enclave-conglomerate state.", the employees of the M.S. Ozmanyan Center “Rozgava in the context of the 2020 pandemia", Vedeneev I.N. “The problem of financing Kurdish autonomy from the Iraq budget  at the present stage", V.I. Yurtaev and E.M. Savicheva (RUDN) "Intra-confessionalism as a factor in the politicization of Islam in the Middle Middle East (on the example of Iran and Saudi Arabia)", I.N.Serenko (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) "On the problem of reforming the education system in the culturally complex society of Pakistan", V.Ya.Belokrenitsky (the Head of the the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) "Karachi - the problems and prospects of large cities in Pakistan”, O.E. Mitrofanenkova (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) “The transition to mass production of drugs in Afghanistan.'', N.I. Gadzhimuradova (MGIMO) “Afghan refugees in the Nordic countries: the adaptation possibilities.''

After a break, within the framework of the second session, the following speakers presented their reports: S.F. Oreshkova (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) "The scientific Oriental Studies and some problems of Russian imperial construction", U.V. Okimbekov (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) "The policy of the Afghan north colonization and the British differentiation commission", Z.A. Arabadzhyan (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) "Iran and the First World War.", A.V. Boldyrev “On the issue of the contemporary Turkish researchers position on the Second World War.”, E.V. Dunaeva (the Center of Near and Middle East Studies) "Modernization in modern Iran: the assessments of Iranian researchers.", Ryzhov I.V.  and Borodina M.Yu. (N. Novgorod) "The orientalists and the study of the Middle East by the Nizhny Novgorod State University in the 21st century."

The conference was attended not only by staff members of the Institute of Oriental Studies, but also colleagues from IMEMO, RUDN, MGIMO, ISAA, MSU, the Institute of International Relations and World History of Nizhny Novgorod University named in honor of N.I. Lobachevsky. It is planned to publish articles digest based on the results of the conference.