India-2021: Middle class in pandemic conditions

The article analyzes the conditions for the formation of the middle class in India. Shown is its important balancing role in the politics and economy of the country. The nature of the definition of "middle class", its special significance in developing countries is considered. Due to the difference in the applied criterion - the initial unit of account (employee, family, population group), due to the weakness of statistical services, the results of sociological studies, statistical estimates of the size of the middle class are often approximate. The work shows that the official and infor-mal (shadow) parts of the middle class coexist in the economies of developing countries in parallel. The pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of the Indian middle class is taken into account. The article examines the national characteristics of the formation of the middle class inherent in India. Due to the unclear definition of the criteria, the inconsistency of its assessments, the insufficient level of work of statistical organizations, information on the size of the middle class is inaccurate (according to various estimates, about 210-360 million people). Attention is paid to the formation of the rural middle class in India, rural residents make up a significant part of it (estimated at 48-66%).The forecast of the recovery of the Indian middle class ispresented. It is assumed that its quantitative growth, which was observed before the pandemic, and a gradual increase in influence will continue and will allow in the future. The topic is relevant, in demand by the Russian reader.

Russia-Africa Business Dialogue at SPIEF 2021: Trends, Problems and Prospects for Russian-African Cooperation

More than a year and a half has passed since the first Summit and the Russia-Africa Economic Forum. The crisis of “Western-style” globalization, accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, has adjusted the formation of the Russian business strategy in the African direction. The most important areas of Russian-African cooperation in the near future are healthcare, ensuring food security, infrastructure projects, including digitalization, education and science. With what results will Russia and Africa approach the next Summit, planned for 2022? Which business strategy will meet both Russian and African interests? What Russian investment projects are already being implemented on the African continent? How are the new mechanism and tools of the Russian-African partnership formed? These and other issues on the Russian-African agenda were discussed at the Russia-Africa business dialogue, which was held on June 3, 2021 as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. This was the first major Russian African event in full-time format after the historic Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum, which was successfully held in Sochi on October 23-24, 2019. The participants in the discussion concluded that Africa needs Russia to achieve the ambitious goals of the Agenda 2063, but Russia also needs Africa to implement the new development strategy of the Russian Federation, which focuses on increasing non-resource exports and technological breakthrough. The African fast-growing market, formed by the youngest population in the world, is showing an increased demand for modern Russian goods and technologies, primarily in such areas as healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, resource development, and digital products. To intensify cooperation, it is necessary to use the entire set of instruments of public-private partnership, to utilize the information resource at full capacity, and to develop cooperation in the field of science and education. The main thing for us now is to bring our cooperation, including in the economic sphere, to a fundamentally new level that meets the interests of our peoples. Both Russia and Africa have a lot to learn from each other, and our economic strategies can be successfully implemented if we combine our efforts.

What's new in the "new" US course towards the DPRK?

The article analyzes the prospects for US-North Korean and inter-Korean relations, taking into account the completed policy review of the new US administration towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as the results of the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in’s trip to Washington in May 2021 and his talks with US President Joe Biden. It is concluded that the “new" course proposed by the United States in relation to the DPRK will not lead to a solution to the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula and will interfere with the normalization of inter-Korean relations. During his visit to the US President Moon failed to obtain the US consent on ROK more “independent policy” toward North Korea. In spite of lavish investments into US economy and other concessions, Seoul was forced to promise to coordinate his approaches to the DPRK with US and Japan and support US position on Taiwan straits and South China Sea. The author argues that in the current conditions, the introduction of a regime of arms limitation and arms control in Korea should be a necessary stage on the way to complete denuclearization of the peninsula. The transition to a such method of the settlement of the nuclear problem could lead to the resumption of the negotiation process, mutual concessions, including reductions in the level of military-political confrontation, partial or large-scale lifting of economic sanctions in exchange for North Korea's restrictions of its nuclear weapon and missile systems.

Cameroon: the radicalization of Islam and the expansion of Boko Haram

The radicalization of Islam in Cameroon is quickly changing the country's religious landscape and contributing to the spread of religious intolerance. Unlike, for example, neighboring Nigeria and the Central African Republic, previously Cameroon rarely faced serious manifestations of sectarian tensions, but over the past 10-15 years traditional Sufi Islam has been increasingly supplanted by the ideology of Wahhabism. Wahhabism is rapidly spreading not only in the north of the country, but also in the south, which until recently was inhabited mainly by Christians and animists. The spread of Wahhabism is actively supported and funded by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt. Sufism, the followers of which mainly include Fulani living in the northern regions, is gradually losing its position. The specific interpretation of Islam leads to the destabilization of religious and public political life, and Koranic schools and refugee camps become "incubators of terrorists". The growing influence of radical Islam in Cameroon is largely due to the expansion of the terrorist organization Boko Haram into the country; one of the consequences of this is the broadening affiliation of Cameroonians, inspired by calls for the cleansing of Islam and the introduction of Sharia law, with this armed Islamist group. As in other African countries, the radicalization of Islam is accompanied by the intensification of terrorist activities, leading to an exacerbation of the internal political situation, an increase in the number of refugees, and the deterioration of the socio-economic situation of the population, etc. The failure of the Cameroonian government to counter terrorist activities in the north of the country in the near future may lead to an escalation of the military-political conflict on religious grounds in the context of political instability that Cameroon is experiencing at the moment.