Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Academy of Sciences of the RF (IMEMO)

With the assistance of Geo Spectrum Group and Rusgems Company

Southeast Asia as the Crossroads of Civilizations
Conference Program

April 21-22, 2004, IMEMO, Moscow

April 21

Welcoming Address - Academician Nodari Simonia, IMEMO Director.
Introduction - Prof. Vladimir Khoros, Head of the Center for Development and Modernization Studies, IMEMO, Project Coordinator.

Presentations:
Southeast Asia as Civilization Entity - I.V. Podberezsky, Dr. Sc.(Philology), Leading researcher, IMEMO.
Civilization of Southeast Asia: its Basic Institutions and Values — A.S. Agadzhanyan, Dr. Sc.(Hist.), IMEMO.

Round-table Discussion.

Major Subjects:

• Southeast Asian Civilization: Its Homogeneity/ Heterogeneity.
• The Region as a Model for Inter-Civilization Cooperation.
• Southeast Asia’s Civilization Space: Racial, Ethno-linguistic and Religious Structure.

Realms of the Secular and the Sacral.

• Divinity — Nature — Man.
• Individuality and Freedom. Buddhist Personalism.

Man and Society.

• Specific Features of Society, the Role and Place of Communal Units.

Man and Power.

• Patron-Client Relations, Principles of Domination and Subordination.
• Patrimonial Bureaucracy.
• Specific Features of the State.

Labor and Property.

• Flexibility of Peasant Communal Ideals.

Presentation:
Historical Development of the Civilization of Southeast Asian Region. — D.V. Deopik, Dr. Sc.(Hist.), Head of Department, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University.

Round-table Discussion.

Major Subjects:
Main Stages of the Evolution of Southeast Asia’s Civilization Entity.
Southeast Asian Civilization Constants and the Problem of Modernization.
The Period of Colonialism.
Ways of Development of the Region during Independence.

Presentations:
“Southeast Asia in the Cold War and the Globalizing World” — V.V. Sumsky, Cand. Sc.(Hist.), Head of Section, IMEMO.
“Southeast Asia in the World Economy: Notions and Realities” — A.A. Rogozhin, Cand. Sc.(Econ.), Head of Section, IMEMO.

Round-table Discussion.

Major Subjects:
Southeast Asian Countries, Cold War and Globalization Challenges.
Modernization in the Region: Achievements and Failures.
China in Southeast Asia: Friend, Threat or Something Else?
Has the Idea of Catch-up Development Been Realized in Southeast Asia?
Is Southeast Asia the Most Globalized Segment of the Third World?
Real and Formal Integration into Southeast Asia.
Russia’s Interests in Southeast Asia.

Concluding Remarks:
E.B. Rashkovsky, Dr. Sc.(Hist.),
V.G. Khoros, Dr. Sc.(Hist.)