DOI 10.3792/3033-6015-2025-2-7-9
THE EAST IS A DELICATE MATTER
THE EAST IS A DELICATE MATTER
The geopolitical events occurring in the world in recent years are leading to global changes in various spheres of life in Russia and other countries. The transformation of the world order is accompanied by a restructuring of financial, logistical, and production systems, an increase in geopolitical and economic instability, and a rise in risks and costs of conducting foreign economic activities. At the same time, in cross-border regions, there is not only a revival of purely economic contacts but also a noticeable intensification of social and cultural interactions between various actors of the borderlands. The sociocultural component is becoming an integral, often defining, backdrop for the strategic development of cross-border frontier zones. The journal’s editorial board presents to your attention a new issue, which includes thematic sections on economics (The Eastern Vector of Russia’s Economic Development: Problems, Strategies, Prospects), sociology (The Mongolian World through the Lens of Sociological Research: Assessment of the State and Trends in the Development of Society and Social Institutions), and ethnology (Explication of Political, Sociocultural, and Ethnic Boundaries: The Space of «Us» and «Them» in Scientific Discourse and Social Practices), in which the authors, using the language of different sciences, describe and analyze problems arising at the intersection of socio-economic, intercultural, and geopolitical interaction in the borderlands of Russia and East Asia.
Under the current conditions, the most important direction of the foreign and domestic policy of the Russian Federation is becoming the «turn to the East.» A vivid testament to this is the holding of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok with the aim of stimulating foreign investment in the Russian Far East and developing economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The significance of the country’s eastern regions as priority territories for economic development, providing access to foreign markets, is increasing.
In recent years, the eastern vector of Russia’s economic policy has been reflected in strategic planning documents. Thus, the regions that are part of the Far Eastern Federal District have been included in the list of Russia’s geostrategic territories provided in the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation. Target indicators for the country’s spatial development are highlighted separately only for the Siberian and Far Eastern subjects of Russia. In this regard, the research whose results are presented in the article by N. M. Sysoeva is relevant. For the priority geostrategic territories of the eastern part of the country, the importance of preserving and increasing human capital cannot be overstated. To solve this problem, according to the author of the publication, a change in the federal policy of regional development is necessary.
The «turn to the East» has several directions. One of them is the Mongolian vector, various aspects of which have become the subject of research by the authors of two publications presented in the current issue of the journal. Amid the worsening geopolitical situation, Russia’s interest in the possibilities of transport corridors in the east, including the transit route through Mongolia to China and further to other Asian countries, has increased.
The article by N. N. Bulatova, A. K. Berezin, and M. A. Sizykh examines current problems in the development of the Mongolian direction of the transport corridor as one of the reliable and safe transport and logistics channels for both the export of Russian goods to international markets and the import of products necessary for Russia. The issues of developing the international transport corridor «Russia – Mongolia – China» have been actively discussed by the governments, business communities, scientific and expert organizations of the three countries for over 10 years. At the same time, problems of cargo transportation, including the harmonization of standards, the development of digital platforms, and the synchronization of infrastructure, remain unresolved.
V. O. Namzhilova examines the problems of infrastructural and economic connectivity of the Mongolian direction of the eastern turn, studying issues of strengthening infrastructural connectivity between Russia and Mongolia through the modernization and increase in the capacity of checkpoints on the Russian-Mongolian border. According to the author, important conditions for sustainable and mutually beneficial economic integration of the two countries are the development of economic cooperation within the framework of the temporary trade agreement between the EAEU and Mongolia, the activation of business and humanitarian ties, and the development of the tourist brand of the Great Tea Route.
At the same time, as noted by the authors of the report «Turn to the East 2.0, or the Siberianization of Russia,» prepared under the leadership of S. A. Karaganov, «The ‘Eastern Turn’ should not be reduced merely to a reorientation of trade toward Asian markets. It should be a project of deep spiritual and civilizational renewal of the country, with a key shift of the political, economic, and cultural center to the east.»
The authors of the thematic collection on sociology have quite clearly demonstrated the importance of assessing the state and development trends of society and social institutions of the Mongolian world, including Mongolia and the Republic of Buryatia, in the context of external and internal challenges facing Russia and its eastern regions.
The Eastern theme in the article by E. Yu. Bashkueva and O. S. Rinchinnova is presented in two directions: the territorial object (the Republic of Buryatia – one of the eastern regions of Russia) and the subject of research (Eastern medicine). According to the authors, the opportunities for developing Eastern medicine in Buryatia are directly linked to further strengthening scientific-technological and investment cooperation with Asian countries, including China and Mongolia, including within the framework of the trilateral economic corridor program.
In the modern world, language plays a key role in defining national identity, and it is difficult to overestimate the importance of conducting sociological research (including expert surveys) on such delicate and often very sensitive topics as knowledge of one’s native language. Globalization poses a threat to the existence of minority languages, among which sociolinguists include Buryat. The article by A. V. Biltrikova and I. D. Vasilyeva is devoted to the study of the problems and prospects of its development.
The article by V. I. Terentyev is devoted to assessing the factors and trends of social change in Mongolia under conditions of geopolitical turbulence. The country under study is unique in many respects. There are not many countries in the world located between two leading powers – Russia and China. Mongolia is the country with the lowest population density in the world (2.2 people/km²), excluding the Falkland Islands (0.3 people/km²) and Greenland (0.1 people/km²). Its history is also unique: from feudalism to socialism, and then a sharp transition to a capitalist system. These factors largely determine the modern problems of Mongolian society, some of which have become the subject of the author’s research.
In the «Ethnology» section, the authors’ attention focused on discussing concepts such as «border,» «one’s own,» and «alien» space. In the article by I. V. Oktyabrskaya, a meticulous analysis of the term «border» in various discursive contexts is carried out, the historical evolution of the term and the specifics of its use in (geo)political, social, and scientific discourses are examined. Borders correlate with the current picture of the world and the fundamental structure of society, act as a result of social and intellectual practices, and are considered as a reflection of historical development. In the space of the global world, they remain factors of geopolitical structuring; in the social sphere, they are markers of ethnic and national identity.
In the text by A. V. Vinokurova and A. Yu. Ardalanova, using the example of migrants from Central Asia in the Far East, the process of sociocultural development of Russian cities by migrants is examined. The authors show how, in an «alien» space, as a result of specific social practices, «one’s own» localities are created, contributing to the preservation of the ethnic identity of migrants and the consolidation of boundaries between them and the host society. On the other hand, the «alien» draws closer to «one’s own,» blurring the boundaries between different sociocultural groups.
The study by A. I. Yakovlev, devoted to the study of traditional Yakut culture, shows how «one’s own,» «indigenous» ethnicity is embedded in the context of modern modernist and even postmodernist society, turning tradition into an integral and organic part of modern sociocultural reality. All three articles in the section illustrate and confirm the fact that ethnocultural boundaries demonstrate the ability not only to separate communities but also to act as a zone of active interaction, communication, and rapprochement of different social worlds.
The East is a delicate matter!
Sincerely,
Executive Editor of the Journal, Doctor of Economics, Professor,
Chief Researcher at IMBT SB RAS
Z. B.-D. Dondokov;
Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal, Candidate of Historical Sciences,
Senior Researcher at IMBT SB RAS
P. K. Varnavsky
