THE UNIVERSITY'S WEBSITE AS A CHANNEL FOR THE IMPACT OF SOFT POWER ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galina Savchuk ◽  
Irina Britvina ◽  
Valeriya Frants
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Central Asian Countries ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Federal University’s Role in the Implementation of the Russian Federation “Soft Power” Conception in Central Asia (The Case of Northern (Arctic) Federal University Named After M.V. Lomonosov)

2020 ◽  
pp. 223-232
Author(s):  
Slavyana Boldyreva ◽  
Roman Boldyrev ◽  
Nataliya Beloshitskaya
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Educational Programmes ◽  
Central Asian Countries ◽  
The Russian Federation

Introduction. Currently the notion of the “soft power” is perceived as an effective way of nation’s non-forcible influence on other countries with a view to implement one’s own objectives. Suchlike implementation is confined to particular spheres to form a positive image of the nation. Higher education today is one of the most efficient instruments of the “soft power” implementation in the countries of Central Asia, for it allows securing friendly political and economic elite as well as enhancing the quality of labour migrants to the Russian Federation. The aim of the research is to analyze particular features of the “soft power” implementation in the domain of higher education in case with the region of Central Asia on the example of Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov (the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia, henceforth NArFU). Methods and materials. The study is based on systematic and comparative approaches to the analysis of the Russian “soft power” strategy in the domain of higher education. The study in hand also draws on general approaches to the “soft power” implementation in the region of Central Asia. The main sources for the analysis are annual reports on implementing the NArFU programme of development. These reports pay a great deal of attention to academic recruiting and academic mobility. Analysis. The Central Asia region is crucial from the view point of Russia’s interests. The region is rich in hydrocarbon deposits, it boasts a great transit potential in international trade, and this is the region where the biggest number of migrants come from to Russia. For these reasons Russia is strengthening its “soft power” influence on Central Asian countries in general and in the sphere of higher education in particular. From the very day of the NArFU foundation in 2010, the region of Central Asia has been considered as a high-priority region. The example of NArFU demonstrates that the number of international students in the total number of full-cycle students has risen by 8.4 times, wherein the growth is secured mainly by students from Central Asian countries. Central Asian students’ percentage of the total number of international students is 82–89.3%. The percentage of students from the region in question, doing short-term educational programmes is also high – 49.5–61.4%. Diverse mechanisms are exploited to attract would-be students to NArFU: agreements with educational establishments of the region; visits of NArFU’s representatives (both lecturers and students) to the region; NArFU’s participation in international exhibitions on education; presenting NArFU’s educational programmes on the basis of “Rossotrudnichestvo” regional offices; inviting school graduates to study within the quota for fellow-countrymen residing abroad; arranging off-site university testing and multi-disciplinary intellectual contests; higher educational allowances and medical insurance compensation; active promotion with the help of social media. The international Friendship Club and the team of tutors were set up to ensure better social and cultural adaptation, regular events and excursions take place on the same purpose. Results. Despite the fact that there is no general state-level integral concept on attracting school graduates from the countries of Central Asia to the universities of Russia, NArFU managed to occupy the niche on the educational market of the region. University’s administration has been pursuing a clear course towards attracting would-be students from Central Asia, exploiting a wide range of mechanisms to enhance academic recruiting, relying upon the advantages of Arkhangelsk region in the sphere of migrants’ adaptation. Over the recent ten years the factors mentioned above have brought about more than eight times growth of students from the region of Central Asia in NArFU.

Confucian Influence: The Place of Soft Power in China’s Strategy Towards Central Asia

China Report ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-344
Author(s):  
Shabnam Dadparvar ◽  
Hamidreza Azizi
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
International System ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Status ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Central Asian Countries ◽  
Ancient Silk Road

China has traditionally had close relations with Central Asia for quite a long time. The main reasons for this are probably their social, cultural, and demographic bonds, as well as geographical proximity, providing China with a different status in Central Asia from those of the other regions in the world. These bonds have also been strengthened by the ancient Silk Road, beginning in China and passing through Central Asia and Iran towards Europe. Cultural relations, in general, and China’s attempt to expand its means of soft power in the region, in particular, have been a significant aspect of the ties between China and the Central Asian countries. It has drawn attention, especially over the recent decade, and has manifested in various forms. By focussing on the dimension of relations between China and the Central Asian countries, this article addresses the question of what does China try to achieve by expanding its soft power in Central Asia? The article argues that China has focussed on the expansion of its soft power and the consolidation of cultural ties with the Central Asian countries to expand its influence in the region and, eventually, to rise as a new centre of power in the international system. Following a conceptual discussion on the definition of soft power, the article analyses the status of soft power in China’s foreign policy and then, the representations of China’s soft power in Central Asia. Finally, the essay discusses the effects of the soft power factor on the expansion of Chinese influence in the region.

scholarly journals Impact of Trade Openness on Food Security: Evidence from Panel Data for Central Asian Countries

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 3012
Author(s):  
Zhilu Sun ◽  
Defeng Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Trade Openness ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Dynamic Panel Data ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The World ◽  
Central Asian Countries ◽  
The Impact

The problem of food insecurity has become increasingly critical across the world since 2015, which threatens the lives and livelihoods of people around the world and has historically been a challenge confined primarily to developing countries, to which the countries of Central Asia, as typical transition countries, cannot be immune either. Under this context, many countries including Central Asian countries have recognized the importance of trade openness to ensure adequate levels of food security and are increasingly reliant on international trade for food security. Using the 2001–2018 panel data of Central Asian countries, based on food security’s four pillars (including availability, access, stability, and utilization), this study empirically estimates the impact of trade openness and other factors on food security and traces a U-shaped (or inverted U-shaped) relationship between trade openness and food security by adopting a panel data fixed effect model as the baseline model, and then conducts the robustness test by using the least-squares (LS) procedure for the pooled data and a dynamic panel data (DPD) analysis with the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach, simultaneously. The results show that: (1) a U-shaped relationship between trade openness and the four pillars of food security was found, which means that beyond a certain threshold of trade openness, food security status tends to improve in Central Asian countries; (2) gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, GDP growth, and agricultural productivity have contributed to the improvement of food security. Employment in agriculture, arable land, freshwater withdrawals in agriculture, population growth, natural disasters, and inflation rate have negative impacts on food security; and (3) this study confirms that trade policy reforms can finally be conducive to improving food security in Central Asian countries. However, considering the effects of other factors, potential negative effects of trade openness, and vulnerability of global food trade network, ensuring reasonable levels of food self-sufficiency is still very important for Central Asian countries to achieve food security. Our research findings can provide scientific support for sustainable food system strategies in Central Asian countries.

UNDERSTANDING JAPANESE SOFT POWER POLICY AND ITS FEATURE IN CENTRAL ASIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 029-038
Author(s):  
Farrukh Usmonov ◽  
Fumiaki Inagaki
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Asian Region ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Border Conflicts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Central Asian Countries

The states of the Central Asian region obtained their independence in 1991 and have been undergoing a turbulent transition process, such as civil war, cross-border conflicts, revolution and socio-political reforms. Japan has been furthering its cooperation with the Central Asian countries since the day diplomatic relations were established. Despite only a 25-year history of cooperation, Japan has developed numerous and diverse patterns of involvement in the Central Asian region. There is a positive attitude towards Japan and Japanese people among the population of Central Asian countries. This work explores the features of Japanese soft power policy and its development in Central Asia. The core of the multilateral collaboration format in Japanese Central Asian Policy is “Central Asia + Japan,” which aims to promote inter-regional and intra-regional cooperation among the Central Asian states.

scholarly journals Foreign Policy of Contemporary Uzbekistan

2021 ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
R. Makhmudov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Strategic Cooperation ◽  
Central Asian Countries

The ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan constitute a large-scale program of transformation of the key principles of the country’s development. The reforms are especially focused on the economy and this is reflected in Uzbekistan’s foreign policy, which is increasingly acquiring the features of “economization”. The strengthening of the trend towards economization is closely linked with the development of such a new component of Uzbek diplomacy as soft power, which is already showing its effectiveness at the regional level, bringing economic dividends as well. At the conceptual level, Uzbekistan's modern foreign policy creates the phenomenon of “multidimensional strategic cooperation,” which in turn puts the dominant view on the foreign policy of the Central Asian countries as multi-vector in question.

scholarly journals The Future of Central Asian Countries: Intergovernmental Dialogue or External Management

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Balashova ◽  
Yulia Popova ◽  
Anna Popova
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Maximum Benefit ◽  
State Participation ◽  
Central Asian Countries ◽  
External Management ◽  
Different Levels

Today's world economy, due to the ambiguity of the consequences of its key trends for economies at different levels of development, carries many contradictions. One of them is the effectiveness of state participation in international structures. In theory, the dialogue of countries at various international forums should help solve the problems of development of their member countries, in fact, for which these structures are created. In practice, however, it turns out that this idea does not always work. In most cases, the leaders of globalization receive maximum benefit from participation in international organizations, while most developing countries experience neutral effects, at the best, and negative effects, at the worst. In this context, the Central Asian region will not be an exception, and its development is in no way facilitated by participation of the countries concerned in international structures. Moreover, their economic situation is aggravated by the use of «soft power» by the world's leading powers, which consider the region concerned not only as a supplier of raw materials but also as unique geo-economic and geopolitical territories.

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