Modern geopolitical processes, flowing in the Central Asian and East Asian regions, formed as a result of the formation of polymodal structures in the united subregional zone of the Greater Middle East and the Indo-Asian space, fall under the conceptual framework of "separated zones". At the same time, there has been an increase in security challenges as a military, and non-military for all regional geopolitical actors.
The conflictogenic basis is not only the current military-political, geoeconomic dynamics, but also socio-political subjective dimensions, united in the humanitarian sphere. In the course of these processes, the cultural sphere within the framework of public diplomacy is the basis of geopolitical influence and multilateral sectoral cooperation..
Cultural interaction of two sovereign states in the framework of the development of strategic cooperation is an objective necessity in the context of modern globalization processes, when cultural identity is lost against the background of external and internal political processes of any nation-state.
The geopolitical position of Mongolia forces its establishment to look for ways to preserve and expand cultural borders. So in the "National Program for the Development of Science and Technology in Mongolia", developed by the Government, there are two priority areas:
1. creation of a competitive image of the Mongolian civilization in the context of globalization;
2. cooperation with states, that will help to expand the cultural boundaries, rather than limit your own system of cultural values.
In the second paragraph, the intentions of finding loyal (new) exporters, partners and possible new foreign economic relations. Beneath the cultural frontiers here, Firstly, cultural exchange is implied within the framework of public diplomacy: creation of language centers, student exchange between partner countries, as well as integration processes in the areas of education systems.
The document itself is a legal act, determining the further cultural development and cooperation of Mongolia. The program implies a bilateral format of cooperation within the field of education, science and technology. Building symmetrical communication for the exchange of cultural, scientific and technological experience. On the other hand, the directions of the national program provide an opportunity for other foreign policy actors to lobby their geopolitical interests in a legitimate way within the framework of the linguistic and cultural model., as a kind of base for placing their foreign policy interests. Mongolia is of such interest, at least, three main foreign policy partners: Russia, China and USA.
Within the framework of geopolitical interests, through the concept of "soft power", the American side is gaining a foothold in Asia. This can be evidenced by the dynamically developing cultural cooperation in the field of education and science..
The electronic resource of the US State Department says, that english with 2005 year became compulsory in all schools in Mongolia. Same, The government of Mongolia annually allocates an amount of 600 000 dollars to co-finance the Fulbright master's program, to increase the number of Mongolian students to study in the US. Also, with the funding of the US government educational programs, some Mongolian students even receive private scholarships. There is also an increasing tendency among young people to use the Latin alphabet., instead of the usual Cyrillic. but, statistics for the last 4 years illustrate the following situation:
67,5% – read and understand Russian;
45% – can write in Russian;
44,8% – understand Russian;
33,7% – speak Russian;
74% – use Russian several times a week;
20% – use Russian every day.
The percentage composition of university faculty in Mongolia is also a reflection of US-Mongolia cultural cooperation.. AT 75% universities in Mongolia 1/4 the teaching staff are US citizens, European countries, Canada, Australia, South Korea.
Based on cultural cooperation, which, recall, implies an exchange in the field of education and science, sectoral cooperation follows. For a better understanding of the following information, I propose to refer to the dynamics of Mongolia's GDP with 2002-2012 year. This period quite successfully characterizes the key moments in the formation of a new market economy in Mongolia.:
Growth is observed in only one item - industry. It's not an accident, since the leading industry in Mongolia is mining, as well as the main source of income in exports to China. 80% exports from the mining industry go to China. The Mongolian industrial base within the mining industry is represented by two large Mongolian companies: "Oyun Tolgoi" and "Tovan Tolgoi".
But in the first company, the Mongolian side has only 34% shares, and the main package in 66% held by the Canadian company "Ivanhoe Minesof Canada", from whose 66%, 49% owned by the Australian-British concern "Rio Tinto". The Mongolian side, represented by Monnis International Inc., owns a share in the second company 49% shares, unlike Zhinshan Gould Mines Inc., which owns 51% shares.
There are also Russian-Mongolian mining and processing enterprises on the territory of Mongolia: "Erdent", Association "Mongolrostsvetmet", but, such enterprises, due to their economic and technical potential, cannot compete with Oyun Tolgoi and Tovan Tolgoi. At the same time, these companies actively finance and host international volunteer and trainee delegations of funded, including as part of a cultural exchange between the United States and Mongolia, through other actors.
Mongolia is interested in geopolitical dominance, in terms of its geographical location between the main counterparty countries, availability of the country's resource base, as well as its impact on cross-regional processes.
American partners have chosen, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, Chinese concept of "walking slowly".
As part of cultural interaction between Mongolia, one side, USA, European countries, etc.. partners on the other, the processes of replacing the Cyrillic alphabet and replacing it with the Latin alphabet have been launched. With the active introduction of digital technologies in Mongolia, the relevance of the Latin alphabet has increased significantly and the vast majority of young people use the Latin alphabet when communicating through electronic resources., while the entire establishment continues to actively use the Cyrillic alphabet.
Cultural cooperation between the Russian Federation and Mongolia has the character of permanent conferences, symposiums and other events, where tasks are planned and set for cooperation within the framework of scientific activities, which, because of, will serve the development of strategic partnership, but the real action is extremely slow. The Russian-speaking part of the population largely exists, as echoes of the active Soviet presence in the second half of the 20th century. In its turn, The American side openly declares its support for the existence of democracy in Central Asia and is ready for close cooperation in all spheres of production in Mongolia. This is evidenced by the dynamics of the increase in the share of foreign teachers., kind, the final integration of the Mongolian youth into the sphere of the Latin alphabet - the share of the English-speaking contingent in universities to 2025 year must exceed 43%.
Within the framework of the stated positions on issues of cultural cooperation, the contours of the geopolitical rivalry of the United States become clearly visible., China and Russia.
Moreover, each of them, through the concept of “Soft Power”, is trying to strengthen its presence.. And China in a veiled form interprets the existence of Mongolia, as a typical raw material appendage. The introduction of foreign shareholders represented by Canada into Oyun Tolgoi, Great Britain and Australia does not promise destabilization of the enterprise, but only assesses the potential of exported products to China, thereby analyzing the degree of importance of exported resources, and acts as the basis for monitoring the dynamics of geo-economic processes in the development of the "Silk Road".
Besides, in the course of the mentioned processes of unification of the Greater Middle East and the Indo-Asian region into the “Transoceanic mega-region”, the position of India is strengthened, Japan and Australia, including with the potential for “replaced participation”. As part of the local communication of this “troika”, a second circle of regional partners will inevitably appear, which will perform transit or buffer functions.
In June 2018 The security dimension of the Indo-Pacific Strategy was clarified by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue (Singapore). So, he declared, what to maintain stability, America's security and prosperity, this region is a key. He noticed, that there are four points in this strategy, namely: expanding interest in maritime space; compatibility, that is, strengthening within the community of allies and partners; strengthening the rule of law, civil society and transparent governance; finally, the last is the predominance of the private sector in economic development. Each of these points falls under the trade confrontation with China., which means it will lead to systemic effects on its periphery. Thus, in the potential are designated as objective, and subjective prerequisites for a multi-scale revision of China's relations with Iran, Pakistan, Russian Federation.
In this way, in the modern realities of world politics, cultural cooperation is a geopolitical interest. The conclusion of any cultural agreement within the framework of cooperation a priori leads to behind-the-scenes agreements in other areas as well..
Returning to Mongolia's partners in the field of cultural cooperation, it is worth noting the Russian Federation. Through cultural interaction, both sides are trying to build strategic relationships.. So 1995 g. an agreement was concluded - the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia on cultural and scientific cooperation. This document covers the following areas: education; inter-academic cooperation; Culture and art; information, printing and publishing; broadcasting, television and cinematography; creative unions and other organizations; sports, tourism, health; other exchanges.
As additional material in the framework of the development of cultural cooperation, one can designate: Agreement between the Ministry of Science, higher education and technical policy of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Science and Education of Mongolia on scientific and technological cooperation. This agreement implies cooperation between the two countries in the fields of science and technology, since scientific and technical cooperation can become an important prerequisite for the development of strategic relations between the Russian Federation and Mongolia.
The implementation of the agreements reached in the field of cultural cooperation is proceeding in several directions:
a) educational and scientific initiatives;
b) language aspect ;
at) cultural events.
The educational sphere has become the main direction in the field of establishing cultural relations.. The Russian side is ready to develop the educational institution of Mongolia within the framework of a separate branch of public organizations. Such a development process occurs through cooperation at the university level or through the opening of branches of Russian universities in Mongolia.. The list of such institutions includes:
a) branch of Russian Economic University. Plekhanov in Ulaanbaatar. Education takes place at several levels at once: higher, postgraduate, additional professional. Students and students are provided with comfortable conditions for receiving a prestigious education and the comprehensive development of their personality. Education at all levels is conducted in Russian according to Russian educational standards.
b) branch of the East Siberian State University of Technology and Management. The branch provides for the training of students for 1-2 years with their subsequent transfer and completion of education at the head university in the chosen specialization (g. Ulan-Ude).
In connection with the opening of branches, countries needed to introduce another legal act. Agreement between the Governments of Russia and Mongolia on mutual recognition of educational documents, academic degrees and academic titles. Considering, that a large number of Mongolian students study in Russia, they need, so that documents on higher education are recognized as legitimate in Mongolia.
Altai State Polytechnic University also made an important contribution to the development of the Russian language in Mongolia., having built a number of language schools in Bayan-Ulgiy aimag and in the city of Khovd. In such schools, the Russian language is studied according to the program, which was approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Books in Russian are widely used for teaching. AltSTU also participates in the grant program, on the basis of the RFF.
Against the backdrop of ongoing processes, it becomes possible to talk about, that the Russian language is becoming that cultural unit, which links Russian-Mongolian initiatives in the field of education, and potentially provides bilateral contacts in the technological and economic spheres.
Not inferior to the main university of the Altai Territory - Altai State University. Biologists A.I.. Shmakov and R.V. Yakovlev presented two reports - "Scientific and educational joint Russian-Mongolian studies of the flora and fauna of Western Mongolia" and "Opportunities for international communications in the implementation of projects to study the biological diversity of Central Asia". Doctor of Philology L. M. Dmitrieva made a plenary report "Linguistic and cultural model of a cross-border multicultural space". Associate Professor of the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language, PhD D. Nyamaa made a presentation "Russian-Mongolian realities" and spoke about the long-term cooperation of Altai State University with the administration of Khovd aimag and Khovd State University.
In addition to participation in the conference, a number of business meetings were held with the leadership and staff of Khovd University. Working meetings were held with the director of the Institute of Foreign Languages of KhovdGU Ts. Embarrassed, plan of cooperation for the current academic year: students of Russian Studies of the Institute will have a country studies practice at AltSU, teachers of the RFL department of AltSU will give a series of lectures and conduct master classes for teachers and students of KhovdSU.
Meetings with representatives of the Department of Education of the Administration of Khovd Aimag were important. AT 2018 with the assistance of the Russian side, classes with in-depth study of the Russian language were opened in the schools of Khovd aimag, developed programs for students. Such an event is a trend of the times in the face of a decrease in the number of hours for studying the Russian language in the standard program. The Department of RFL of AltSU will provide the necessary assistance in providing modern teaching aids and dictionaries. In the near future, within the framework of the month of Russian-Mongolian friendship, the first set of books will be handed over to the curators of the project.
The Russian Center for Science and Culture is actively working in Mongolia and on its basis, often, all such events. The main objectives of the RCSC are the following:
a) support for compatriots abroad
b) promotion of Russian culture
at) strengthening the positions of the Russian language
g) educational initiatives
d) public diplomacy
Moving on to conclusions, it is worth noting, what:
Geopolitical competition is currently asymmetric. At the same time, the United States and its partners, within the framework of the concept of "soft power", are trying to assimilate the Mongolian region in the likeness of their non-coalition allies.. Such processes, flowing through cultural exchange between states, going pretty well, this is evidenced by the quantitative growth of the English-speaking population of Mongolia. The American side is ready to provide affordable education for Mongolian students, also offering high scholarships and living in their state. Really, the field of education and science in the United States ranks first in terms of funding from the state budget.
On 2016 year the figure was as follows: 511, 1 billion, unlike Russia, whose funding of the scientific sphere on 2016 the year was 39,9 billion. Looking objectively at the current situation, Russia may soon lose Mongolia, as a strategic partner. This trend is seen in the language, as well as in education and science, from here, industry cooperation may also end. Development of relations between universities, as channels of communication through public diplomacy it is an integral part of any cultural agreements, but, insufficient funding for projects, their irrelevance makes Mongolian youth look at Western partners, because they can offer conditions and within, linguocultural model. The United States is trying to force Russia out of this region through the technology of spreading the English language in the country. At the same time, the Russian side ensures the proper level of cultural communication, shaping further bilateral cooperation.
Maxim Alexandrov
Published: lentok Source
