The article investigates the alignment of socio-political forces in India on the eve of the parliamentary elections held in April-May 2024. In the first part of the paper, the positions and ideological preferences of the main electoral blocs, the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the I.N.D.I.A. party coalition under the Indian National Congress are compared, attention is drawn to the strengths and weaknesses of each of the above-mentioned associations. The second part of the article focuses on estimates and forecasts of the results of parliamentary election. The results of the general election are analyzed from the perspective of the electoral system of ‘relative majority’ functioning in India. In the final part of the paper, an attempt is made to assess the impact of the results of the parliamentary election on the prospects for the development of Russian-Indian relations.

The article is devoted to the results of the presidential elections in Indonesia held on February 14th, 2024, as well as the political struggle preceding these elections, and the alignment of political forces in the highest echelons of power in Indonesia on the eve of the general elections and after their results were summed up. For a better understanding of the balance of the main political forces and participants in the 2024 presidential race, a brief analysis of the relationship between the main political figures of modern Indonesia, Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subyanto, in the period 2014–2024 is given.

The article is devoted to the energy transition and the role of nuclear power within this process in Japan. Tokyo’s energy policy after 2011 is focused on the implementation of innovative technologies in the field of renewable energy sources, but the government’s plans for the period up to 2050 devote considerable attention to nuclear power. However, the topic of reactivation of nuclear power plants and their place in the country’s future energy mix is unpopular among researchers, as evidenced by the low number of papers on this topic. The article examines the changes in the country’s policy towards the nuclear industry amid the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster. The current regulatory structure of the nuclear power sector and the interconnection of organizations within it are demonstrated. Major changes in official energy development plans are also analyzed, leading to the conclusion that nuclear power will continue to play a role in Japan’s energy mix for the next several decades. The information on operating NPP reactors on the territory of Japan was updated and graphically presented, thus, the tendency to restart some of the shutdown reactors and their longterm orientation is noted. It is shown that the current situation is characterized by a tendency to soften the opposition to nuclear power within Japan’s society, which is the outcome of the government’s work to restore confidence in the peaceful atom, as well as a result of the global energy crisis. The study concludes that Japan’s active use of the peaceful atom is resuming, and notes the significant role of nuclear power plants in Japan’s energy transition.

The aim of the study is to analyze both the prerequisites and the consequences of the introduction of digital currencies, which influenced the revolutionary change in the global financial landscape. To achieve these goals, the authors have put forward the following tasks: using the example of cyberyuan in China to analyze modern practices of introducing digital national currencies, consider the key differences between a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and cash and cryptocurrencies, study the causes of potential difficulties in the commissioning of central digital currencies, which led to the closure of CBDC projects in a number of countries. Assessing the experience of the global introduction of CBDCs into circulation, the authors examine the factors that directly affect the choice of design of digital currencies. The authors emphasize the possibility of achieving such urgent tasks with the help of digital currencies of central banks as overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global stagnation of financial markets in 2020–2021, combating the consequences of sanction restrictive measures against the Chinese financial markets, curbing the dominant role of the American dollar and reducing financial costs of the participants.

The main conclusions of the article include the awareness of the need to establish the legal status of digital central currencies, increase financial awareness of potential and real users of digital currencies, ensure technical and regulatory compatibility of digital currencies of central banks, widespread use of advanced distributed ledger technologies to protect data confidentiality and ensure strict authentication of payments.

In the middle of the last century, the French geopolitician Jean Gottman developed the concept of a me- galopolis (supercity) in relation to a large agglomeration of the northeastern coast of the United States. In the last decade, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has also seen the growth of large urban agglo- meration associations chengshiqun (城市 群), the article is devoted to the largest of them: Yangzi River Delta (YRD), Greater Bay Area (GBA) and JingJingJi. The essence of the Chinese agglomeration urban formations, which are considered in this study, is close to the concept of megalo- polis, however, the formation of Chinese mega-clusters with a population of 80 to 200 million or more people is taking place with the active and direct role of the state. They far exceed the boundaries of the megalopolis described by J. Gottman in terms of population size and degree of integration, thus marking a fundamentally new stage of urbanization. Since the PRC launched its reform and Open Door Policy in 1978, industrialization and urbanization have been at the forefront of China’s rapid economic development. There has been unprecedented internal migration, with more than half a billion people moving from rural to urban areas, resulting in the largest agglomerations in history. The creation of nineteen urban mega-clusters is included in the Fourteenth (2021-2025) Five-Year Development Plan of the PRC as a priority for urbanization and deve- lopment in general. The participation of the state in the historical process of the formation of supra-agglomeration associations of chengshiqun in the PRC leads to the accelerated creation of megalopolises throughout the country. This practice has no analogues in the world, and in the process of “new urbanization” the world leadership will undoubtedly belong to the PRC.

Bangladesh serves as a vital nexus between South and Southeast Asia, holding considerable strategic importance for all major regional and global players. This article aims to analyze Bangladesh’s future within the context of complex regional dynamics and its foreign policy responses. The author investigates how the rising geopolitical competition and rivalries among major powers, along with their significant impacts on Bangladesh, generate notable challenges for the nation. To understand Dhaka’s strategies towards these po- wers, the study has involved a detailed review of recent scholarly literature, fieldwork, and in-depth interviews. The analysis posits that Bangladesh adopts a moderate foreign policy to sustain hedging relations with all key regional and extra-regional powers. Nevertheless, Dhaka’s capacity to implement its foreign policies effectively is hampered by its inability to establish leverage over dominant powers. The article concludes that the influences of key powers in Bangladesh’s political landscape could lead the country to align with a specific power bloc or maintain neutrality in the near future, contingent upon the evolving regional and global political dynamics. Thus, the study suggests that by devising its short and long-term plans and strategies, Bangladesh can create leverage and remain on the right track without falling into the trap of geopolitics.

The author analyzes the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Vietnam, focusing on the current stage in regard to Western sanctions against Russia. The scholarly academic discourse outlook of this topic in Russia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) helps to determine its problematic aspects. The study itself focuses at the geopolitical and economic effects of this FTA for the EAEU and Vietnam in the current global transformation. Then it considers trade relations of the parties, their dynamics, structure of commodity flows, indicators and characteristics of individual members participation. The assessments of investment cooperation and other forms of economic cooperation between the parties representing the key components of the FTA are summarized too. The author emphasi- zes the difficulties and obstacles facing the participants, and searches for lessons in the FTA implementation. The paper concludes, that the agreement with the SRV achieved a number of goals, but did not disclose the promised benefits of liberalizing the flow of goods, services, and capital. It recognizes that reduction of trade flows in 2022–2023 happened largely due to the Western sanctions against Russia, and their volume noticeably lagged behind expectations and forecasts. In general, the FTA members didn’t achieve a proper intensification of trade and investment. Commodity exchange, having become a core form of interaction, is marked by the growing weight of the Russian Federation and Vietnam, demonstrates contradictory trends in terms of both exports and imports, and a change in the structure of foreign trade that partly unprofitable for Russia.

The problem of poverty in Tajikistan, despite attempts to solve it, remains relevant today. Progress in this matter is certainly noticeable, but the decisions made in terms of social policy are of questionable effectiveness and are aimed more at reducing the level of poverty on paper than at identifying and eliminating its causes. In this regard, it is extremely important to determine the real reasons for the persistence of poverty in the country, to understand whether it is systemic and what is the influence of the geographical factor on it. Based on this, the purpose of the study is to analyze the reasons for the persistence of poverty and prove the hypothesis that the key factors in the persistence of poverty are social disparities and the economic and geographical position of the country. To achieve this goal, a number of tasks have been solved, in particular, it has been proven that economic growth in the country does not affect the level of poverty, the following main factors for the persistence of poverty have been identified: economic inequality, low quality of education and lack of qualified specialists in the domestic market, population growth, low share industrial sector in the economy, high dependence on labor exports and the dynamics of development of the main market for this export, i.e. Russia. In addition, it was revealed that Tajikistan is characterized by a peripheral economic and geographical location and factors exogenous to its economy cannot have a serious impact on poverty. Based on the results obtained in the process of solving problems, recommendations have been developed for changing the objectives of the country’s economic development from achieving economic growth to social development.

The article analyzes the influence of the “Shi‘a Question” on the political development of Saudi Arabia. The relevance of studying interfaith relations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is due to the religious specifics of the state, which is a powerful factor in the evolution of Riyadh’s domestic and foreign policy. The author describes the process of transforming the “Shi‘a Question” from problems of internal stability of the kingdom into one of the most important elements of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy. The methodological aspects of the study of interfaith relations in the KSA are covered. Particular attention is paid to determining the size of the kingdom’s Shiite community, using both the official 2022 census results and alternative estimates based on third-party data. The influence of the “Shi‘a Question” on the development of bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran after 1979, as well as the relationship between the political dynamics of the Middle East and the transformation of Riyadh’s approaches to resolving issues of internal stability are separately examined. In conclusion, an assessment of the problems and prospects for the development of the KSA policy in the field of interfaith relations is presented against the background of reforms carried out within the framework of the Vision: 2030 program and current events in the region, including in the context of the normalization of Iranian-Saudi relations.

The article is devoted to India’s modern policy towards African states in the context of New Delhi’s intention to strengthen its role in world affairs. Special attention is paid to the issues of increasing the importance of security and defense issues in the current Indian-African relations against the background of growing competition between New Delhi and Beijing. It is concluded that as India’s position in the world deepens and its authority on the continent increases, it increasingly claims to be the leader of the Global South and a “new regulatory force” capable of offering developing, including African, states their own development model. One of the most important means to achieve this goal is to promote Indian digital infrastructure to African countries. India sees this as a necessary element in shaping its new image as a high-tech world power. It is noted that India’s current efforts in this direction are a logical continuation of its previous projects in Africa, in particular in the field of education and health.

The progressive development of African societies directly depends on the formation of modern mechanisms for the progressive modernization of all spheres of public life on the African continent. Thus, the primary role on the path to modernization and development of Africa is given to infrastructure projects implemented by joint efforts of African states and international companies. The creation of transport corridors connecting several African countries is a priority for infrastructure projects. Such corridors are a kind of multimodal solution for solving several strategic tasks: the possibility of rapid delivery of goods (delivered by sea) deep into African countries, the creation of an extensive network of assembly and sales services, attracting investment, the possibility of introducing African companies to the technological experience of foreign firms, accelerating integration processes in Africa. The creation of new infrastructure projects will help train and employ young specialists, which is a priority task for the leaders of all African states, since it is unemployment among young cohorts (extremely high in many African countries, as demonstrated by the events of the Arab Spring) that contributes to the rapid growth of the outflow of young Africans to the West in search of work, as well as the activation of terrorist groups. China’s influence on the African continent is increasing every year, which is explained by the Chinese strategy of the Maritime Silk Road from Asia to Europe. China is also interested in access to the resources of African countries.

In the twenty-first century Africa is destined to become one of the most prominent centers of human development. This is preconditioned by its demographic potential, vast natural resources and two decades of rapid economic growth. The main obstacles to Africa’s future remain the enduring legacy of neo-colonialism, the continued vulnerability of its political systems and the ambitions of powerful Western countries that continue to view Africa as their fiefdom. As the current unipolar world order breaks down, Africa has every chance of becoming another significant pole of the world to come. Russia should be an important ally of African countries, with which they have traditionally friendly relations since the Soviet period and in which the Africans themselves see the leader of the non-Western world in the struggle against the protracted Western hegemony. A holistic, scientifically grounded view of these processes is presented in the book by Irina Abramova and Leonid Fituni “Contemporary Issues in African Studies and Socio-Economic Development” (2022), which is the subject of this review. The book includes 25 articles and reports made by the authors between 2012 and 2022. They analyze three groups of issues: the theory of the world economy and global development from the perspective of developing countries, the problems of the African continent, Russia’s national interests in Africa, and contemporary Russian-African relations. The reader will easily find that the scientific arguments made by the authors are presented not from the point of view of a detached scientific mind, but from the position of the state approach. The idea that Russian African studies should serve the interests of Russia runs through the entire book, that is why each of the texts presented in the book, along with relevant scientific information, contains recommendations that allow representatives of political, business and intellectual circles to engage in the African agenda.