On May 16, 2012, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a "round table" on the topic "Eastern Countries and new Information and Communication Technologies" (ICT), organized by the Center for Research on General Problems of the Modern East (CIOPSV). The round table was attended by employees of the CIOPSV Institute of International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, other divisions of the Institute, Moscow State Open University( MSU), undergraduates of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University.

The round table participants focused on socio-economic and socio-political processes in the Eastern countries in the context of the unfolding information and communication revolution (ICR). The meeting was opened by S. A. Panarin, Head of the CIOPSV.

The round table was held in two sections. Problems of the first section "Economic and social processes in Eastern countries and ICT". N. N. Tsvetkova (Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a presentation on "ICT production and distribution of new ICTs in Eastern countries". She noted that significant changes in the international division of labor are taking place in connection with the development of ICR. On the one hand, thanks to new technologies, high-quality information transfer is provided in a large volume, on the other hand, the cost of this information transfer is reduced. Eastern countries are playing an increasingly important role in the production of ICT goods and services, and this sphere is being developed there with the active participation of TNCs (this may include South Korean Samsung, Taiwan's Hong Hai, Singapore's Flextronics, China's Lenovo, etc.).

China has become a world leader in the production and export of ICT goods - computer and electronic equipment. India has been the world's leading exporter of information and computer services since 2006. It is also a leader in such an area as outsourcing of business support services (business-proceedings outsourcing). Remote services provided by ICTs also include medical services. US medical institutions send X-rays to India via e-mail, electric car charts-

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the results of CT scans, and employees of Indian companies-doctors who receive significantly lower salaries than their American colleagues-decipher them, write comments on them, which is the most time-consuming part of the work, and then send them to the United States by email.

Successful development of the ICT sector and involvement in the R & D process became important factors in the economic recovery of China and India, and generated the economic shifts that formed the basis for the new stage of globalization in the 2000s, which is characterized by an increased role of emerging market countries.

Along with the production of goods and services in the ICT sector, the countries of the East actively participate in ICR as consumers. In 2005-2010, the number of mobile phone users increased dramatically, not only in countries with high GNI per capita - the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf-capital-surplus oil exporters and in the new industrial countries of the first tier - the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the SAR, Hong Kong, but also in countries with low GNI per capita. We can talk about a real revolution in the distribution of mobile communications in Asia and Africa. According to the 2011 Information Economy Report, in 2005-2010 the number of mobile phones per 100 inhabitants increased in Algeria from 42 to 92, Egypt from 18 to 87, Morocco from 41 to 100, Libya from 35 to 171, Tunisia from 57 to 106, Iraq from 6 to 76, Jordan - from 6 to 76, MON-from 16 to 46, Yemen-from 11 to 46, Syria-from 16 to 57 [Information Economy 2011, p. 120-125]. In addition, in Eastern countries, such as Bangladesh, there is such a business: "telephone ladies" for a small fee give you a mobile phone, they sit in their shop or just on the street with a basket of phones.

The number of Internet users per 100 inhabitants has also increased in Afro-Asian countries, although it is not yet too high. In 2010 It was 13 in Algeria, 27 in Egypt, 49 in Morocco, 14 in Libya, 37 in Tunisia, 21 in Syria, and 38 in Jordan (for comparison: 79 in the United States, 84 in the Republic of Korea, and 43 in Russia) [Information Economy 2011, p. 120-125]. If we take into account that in the Eastern countries there are large families, and the calculation is made per 100 inhabitants (which includes illiterate children), neighborhood solidarity is developed, and there are many cheap Internet cafes in cities, then the density of information technology distribution is not so small.

Z. N. Galich (IB RAS) in her report "Urban-sociological paradigms of the information and communication era" noted that the progressive linear-progressive path of human evolution, as defined by F. A. Galich, is the most important factor in the development of human society. According to Braudel, this is "a path from the insignificant role of cities to their global significance." All the radical changes that began at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries were initially closely associated with the change of the agrarian and agrarian-industrial stage of the industrial, or rather urban-industrial, and now - with the onset of the post-industrial era and the transition to the technogenic or information and communication stage.

Today, in the context of globalization-internationalization, the formation of the global economy and the growth of urban-centric trends, a "new urban order" is emerging, based on successfully developing information and communication network structures/systems, usually located in the world cities of Western and Non-Western countries. Through these structures/systems, the global economy of the information society is managed and controlled (as defined by M. Castels). M. Castels believes that in the modern information society, the "space of flows" dominates the space of places - the traditional geographical space. The nodal "centers of the flow space" are global cities, whose main function is to manage flows.

V. A. Ten (Moscow State University) made a report "On the employment of Asian immigrants in the field of information and communication technologies in the USA". He stressed that the share of Asian immigrants employed in the US ICT sector is significantly higher than their share in the US population. South and East Asians account for 15.5% of all employees in the information technology (IT) sector (4.8% of the total US population). The percentage of Asian immigrants employed in the IT sector is 3.2 times higher than their share in the US population. This sector of the American economy employs 11% of working men and 5% of working women - immigrants from Asia. Including natives of West Asia, the number of Asian immigrants working in the IT sector exceeds 522 thousand people and accounts for 16.5% of all employees in this field.

Among computer software engineers and computer hardware engineers, the share of white Americans in the IT field is less than their share among the US population of 65.4 and 65.6%. The same specialties account for the largest percentage of the population compared to the rest of the Russian Federation.

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In other IT specialties, the percentage of employees of Asian origin is 26.6 and 26.8%. The analysis confirms the inconsistency of the ideas about the" predominance " of Asians in the information technology industry in the United States. It is more accurate to say that, compared to other ethnic and racial minorities, Asian immigrants occupy a more significant position in this branch of the American economy.

In the US IT sector, there is a high level of salary compared to representatives of other professions. In 2009, the average weekly salary of an IT employee was $ 1,253, which is much higher than the average weekly salary in the country as a whole ($739). According to a report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average weekly salary in IT in 2009 was $ 1,253, with whites receiving $ 1,255 and Asians receiving $ 1,343. [Labor Force..., 2010, p. 44].

Analysis of American statistics from the first decade of the XXI century shows that the most successful immigrants in the US IT industry are those who have a high level of education combined with a good command of the English language. This combination is typical primarily for those successfully developing Asian countries, where the middle class of local society is close in many characteristics and values to the society of developed Western countries. Immigration to the developed countries of the West, especially to North America, which has accelerated in the context of globalization, allows the most active and intelligent young representatives of the middle class of such countries to realize their potential and ambitions. Therefore, it seems quite logical that it is precisely male immigrants from India who multiply predominate over employees from other ethnic and ethnic minorities of the United States employed in the American IT industry. They are followed by the Chinese, primarily natives of Taiwan and Hong Kong. However, the American statistical materials do not contain data on the representation of immigrants from Russia, since they are considered in the category of "white" and are not isolated in a special group.

E. Amirov (ISAA) in his report "Information and communication technologies as a factor in the formation of a modern post-industrial society in Arab countries" noted that the Arab region is the only region in the world that continued to grow in the field of ICT after the crisis. Bahrain ranked first in the World Bank's ICT Index as of January 2012. Other Gulf monarchies - the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman-also showed significant growth. Four Arab states are among the 50 countries with the highest level of the ICT Index, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are ranked 24th, 25th, 30th and 33rd [The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011, p. 12].

However, in reality, there is still a large gap with developed countries in the use of digital technologies. Arabic digital content, which is key to the use and production of knowledge in Arabic, shows that Arab countries and their societies do not meet most of the criteria of the United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia (ESCA) in this parameter. Until measures are taken at various levels in the field of technology policy and legislation, and until many issues related to the use of the Arabic language on the Internet are resolved, the state of ICT in the Arab world will not change for the better.

There is no data that can show where the younger generation went online to coordinate their actions, for example, in Tahrir Square. The use of ICT is hindered by the high cost of equipment. According to a 2007 study, 70% of the population in Egypt cannot afford 3G phones, which provide access to digital content via the phone. However, the cost of such phones has fallen significantly in recent years, and the public's knowledge of mobile Internet use, on the contrary, has increased.

I. V. Deryugina (Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in her report "New technologies in agriculture in the Eastern countries" touched upon the problem of using new technologies in agriculture, including ICT.

The events of the"Arab Spring" are one of the hot topics that attract the attention of Orientalists, and not only Arabists. These issues were mainly discussed in the second section of the round table " Socio-political processes in the countries of the East and new ICTs (using the Arab Spring as an example)".

R. G. Landa (Institute of Foreign Policy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) devoted his speech "Foreign Policy aspects of the Arab Spring" to the assessment of events in Arab countries and their origins. In his opinion, the "Arab Spring" should be regarded primarily as the end of the"era of Nasser". He analyzed the specifics

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events in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, their roots, emphasizing the importance of the subjective factor-the prestige of the forces in power (Morocco). The driving force behind the events in the Arab countries was young people, who suffer more than the older generation from unemployment, low wages, and the inability to realize their ambitious dreams, which arose as a result of getting to know the life of the West through the Internet, social networks, and other media, as well as during contacts with people coming to the East from the time to visit Europe and America. At the same time, the success of these "Internet" or "Twitter revolutions" was also determined by their broad support from the "people of the street", i.e., the masses of the people. The reason for this, according to R. G. Landa, was not only the really heated social and political situation in these countries, but also the secret agitation of Islamists, who were popular and had a developed underground in Tunisia and Egypt, as well as connections with various segments of the population through formally non-political charitable, cultural, professional and financial and economic organizations. The army and state apparatus in Tunisia and Egypt did not resist the rebellious youth (clearly under the influence of Western countries that actively intervened in the course of unrest through the Internet and social networks).

In Syria, opponents of the regime unleashed an information campaign against Bashar al-Assad and his supporters: the American and British TV companies CNN, BBC and others, as well as the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera reported on the blown-up mosques in different cities, which in fact were intact, staged shootings and massacres that didn't exist.

Participants of the meeting were asked whether they believe that new information and communication technologies played any role in the events of the "Arab Spring". The answers to this question were mixed.

Z. I. Levin (IB RAS) gave a negative answer to this question in his report "Modernization and the Arab Spring". According to him, in 1848, the revolutionary events in Europe covered country after country-without any modern media and ICT. He noted that television played a more important role in the events of the "Arab Spring" than the Internet.

A. B. Podtserob (IB RAS) in his report "The Arab Troubles - causes and consequences" spoke mainly about the events in Libya. The Libyan army did not turn its bayonets against its ruler. Gaddafi created such a system of checks and balances that for a whole year he alone opposed the West. He was supported by the majority of the population of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica. There was a well-developed system of social support for the population. Gaddafi caused discontent only among the tribal leaders of Cyrenaica, who were not allowed to share the pie. Now the question is: who's next? Iran?

A. B. Podtserob noted that the role of the external factor was of great importance in Tunisia and Egypt. The driving forces of events in Egypt were students, young people, as well as the national bourgeoisie, interested in democratization. During seemingly spontaneous events, there was a steering center, and the Internet made it easier to organize performances. The media, ICT, but above all television played an important role. Hezbollah once gave the impression that it had won the 2006 war through television. In Syria, television is waging a real information war. Some channels showed the "atrocities" of government troops, but in fact, as they found out, they were clouds of smoke from burning tires.

D. A. Nechitailo (IB RAS) in his report "The use of the World Wide Web by radical Islamists for propaganda purposes" emphasized that modern terrorist organizations use the Internet very effectively and at the same time covertly. Messages sent by email are disguised as "spam". An ad is placed that contains veiled information. The Internet and e-mail are not only used for distributing and collecting information. Social networks are used as a means of psychological struggle. Relatives of those who participate in events in hot spots become targets of influence, and extremists try to increase the pain of their loved ones. The Internet has also become a way to express itself after a terrorist attack, creating an impression of the universal nature of the struggle. It is used to share the experience of combat operations: information is distributed on how to make bombs, bypass roadblocks, recruit people, and check them for belonging to the special services.

Websites of terrorist organizations are tracked by the security services and blocked, but other sites are immediately opened that offer users to quickly download and distribute information. In some countries, such as Southeast Asia, sites are not blocked. The Internet acts as a tool for collecting information (80% of the information needed by terrorists can be found in the public domain). It is a means of indoctrination

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Moreover, in order to attract new supporters, a bet is made on the negative reaction of Muslims to the policy of the West towards the Muslim world, the degree of protest is very high.

A.V. Kiva (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a report on "Internal and external factors of the Arab Spring: the Arab Spring as a derivative of the global financial and economic crisis". In his opinion, the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009 played an important role in the events in the Arab countries, as it led to the deterioration of the already rather difficult economic situation of the population. 40% of the Egyptian population has an income of less than $ 2 per day. Increasing inequality in income distribution, corruption, and nepotism have become factors of social tension in Arab countries. Young people's demonstrations were influenced by democratic ideas, but the majority of the population (rural residents) supports Islamists, and it is the latter who come to power as a result of the "Arab Spring". At the same time, A.V. Kiva stressed that Islamists should not be "demonized".

The demonstration effect played a role in mobilising dissatisfied people, especially the most socially active and dynamic part of them-young people. The role of the demonstration effect increases with the expansion of international relations and the development of means of communication, and especially the Internet in the context of globalization.

To. Shukurov (ISAA) made a presentation on "The role of the Internet and mass media in the Arab Spring". In his opinion, the Internet has become the main means of launching (but not implementing) the "Arab Spring". This is supported by the fact that the" spring " began in Tunisia, a country with a relatively high level of education and life. Demonstrations were quickly organized through Facebook, and people tired of corruption, government brutality, and Ben Ali's long-term rule took to the streets. There was a velvet ("jasmine") revolution with a minimum number of victims. Egypt followed Tunisia's example. The Arab Spring showed that the development of the Internet not only accelerated the consolidation of discontented masses, but also made it possible to organize their speeches in one day. The Internet and social networks have played the role of the" trigger " of revolutions. At the same time, the role of the Internet in revolutions should not be exaggerated. In Tunisia and Egypt, there was already a mature political (and, most importantly, not a puppet) opposition that took the Internet into service - it became one of the auxiliary tools in the hands of this opposition (in both cases, we are talking about the Muslim Brotherhood). The Islamists were supported by the West. Initially, experts predicted that the more honest the elections were, the more votes the Muslim Brotherhood, which enjoys support among the rural and generally uneducated population (which makes up the majority), will gain.

In Libya and Syria, the key role was played not by the Internet, but by the world's media (which are 99% "singing voices" of the Associated Press, AFP and Reuters). Arab media controlled mainly by Western countries and their Gulf allies: Al Jazeera (Qatar), Al-Arabiya (UAE), Khalij Times (UAE), and even surpassed their Western " big brothers "in unleashing an information war against the" dictatorial regimes " of Libya and Syria.

These media outlets refer exclusively to the data of the opposition; statements of organizations and oppositionists based in London, Paris, and Istanbul are often given as facts. Al Jazeera has been repeatedly accused of falsifying facts while covering events in Libya and Syria: in the summer of 2011, it showed footage of the regime's criminal actions with very clean buildings in the distance. The footage, according to many arabists and bloggers, was shot in Qatar, not Tripoli. Evidence can also be found in the fact that recently several editors of Al-Jazeera (its office in Beirut is almost complete) resigned in protest at the biased coverage of events in Libya and Syria.

A. M. Khazanov (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a report on "The Arab Spring and Russia's position". The Arab Spring was the result of a clash between Western values and the traditional values of Arab society. According to him, globalization and the Internet "hit the Arab minds." The revolution was made by young people who absorbed new values that came from the West. But in the countries where the Arab Spring developed, a significant part of the population lives in poverty, a high percentage of illiterates. It is this majority that supports Islamists in the elections.

During the meeting, a discussion was held on the factors of the "Arab Spring". S. A. Panarin in his closing remarks stressed that in general, the exchange of views on topical socio-political and socio-economic problems of the Eastern countries in the context of the ICR was very fruitful.

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list of literature

Information Economy 2011 Report. UN. N.Y.; Geneva, 2011.

Labor Force Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity, 2009. U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010. Report 1026.

The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011. World Economic Forum. Geneva, 2011.

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