M. A. POTAPOV, A. I. SALITSKY, A.V. SHAKHMATOV. VOZROZHDENIE AZII: GORIZONTY MODERNIZATSII [REVIVAL OF ASIA: HORIZONS OF MODERNIZATION]. MOSCOW: TEIS, 2007, 2008 p.

The economic rise of Asia and its growing role in the new world economic system are the most powerful and significant trends of recent decades. There is a growing number of publications devoted to the study of the Asian economic phenomenon, which attracts more and more attention of scientists, statesmen, and businessmen around the world. The reviewed book is distinguished by an unusual approach to the problems of structural transformations of Asian economies, which allowed the authors to put forward and justify the position of the existence of a special Asian economic community; develop some basic postulates of the modernization theory in the modern sense in relation to the historical experience of Asian countries; comprehensively analyze the relationship between economic and social aspects of modernization, its internal and external factors. The study is based on a rich and diverse factual and statistical material describing the main trends in the socio - economic development of various Asian countries - from Japan to the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia-for more than half a century, especially over the past two decades, and presented in an extremely concentrated form.

The authors identify five main components of the Asian economic community: political stability achieved at certain stages thanks to enlightened authoritarian power; readiness of nationalism-the ideology of many Asian states - to use foreign resources and external experience in the interests of national development; combination of the market with state regulation, ensuring economic dynamism; integration of capital into development plans and its loyalty to the state. extreme activity in the credit sector.

Modernization in the postcolonial Asian countries was based on creative nationalism, focused not on cultivating national exclusivity, separatism, isolationism, but on harmonizing relations between traditional values and the ideology of modernization introduced from outside, reconciling traditional mentality with socio-economic innovations. As G. Myrdal noted in his time, "the awareness of history and the search for national identity do not in themselves threaten or even contradict the commitment to the ideals of modernization, especially at a high intellectual level" (Myrdal, 1972, p. 132). On this platform, the leaders of the victorious national liberation movements managed to establish in the mass public consciousness the idea that it is possible to widely use foreign experience, resources, and technologies in the interests of national development, not to the detriment of national identity, but in order to preserve or even strengthen it. The economic success of Asian countries is largely due to the skillful integration of traditional institutions into modernization processes.

The post-war experience of Asian countries refutes the postulates about the possibility of building a "clean" market economy in the spirit of the Manchester liberal school, when the state completely refuses to interfere in the economy. Of course, the role of the state in Asian economies underwent significant changes in the post-war years. If at the initial stages of socio-economic transformation, the state not only performed regulatory functions, but was also the largest economic entity everywhere, then since the beginning of the 1980s, when the first tasks of modernization, industrialization, and strengthening of national producers were solved, the direct participation of the state in economic activities has been reduced, and the methods of economic regulation have also changed (a phenomenon that called liberalization). Liberalization takes place in different ways in countries that represent different models of economic development (the authors distinguish oil-exporting countries, commercial and industrial enclaves, first-and second-wave NIS, super-large countries, etc.However, in all cases it does not mean the state withdrawing from the economy, but only the rejection of exhausted methods of influencing the economy and society. focus on new tasks.

page 196
The decline in the public sector in Asian countries is not dramatic; the state "retains the role of an organizer of socio-economic development, a defender of the domestic market, a business incubator, an infrastructure builder, and a regulator of relations between national and foreign capital" (p.197). After the financial crisis of 1997-1998, the regulatory functions of the state in the monetary and financial sphere were strengthened in many countries, and in some cases the direct participation of the state in economic activities, especially in infrastructure projects, also expanded.

The authors believe that the activation of the role of the state in the development of the internal market and increasing its capacity, as well as strengthening the state's distribution functions, are of particular importance from an economic and social point of view. The share of government spending in GDP in developing Asia has grown from an average of 8% in the early 1950s to 20% in 2000, and it can be expected to continue to grow in the leading Asian countries. The experience of developing Asian countries shows the effectiveness of such policies, which run counter to the recommendations of international financial organizations: countries with high economic dynamics (China, Kazakhstan, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand) are characterized by an increase in the share of government revenues and expenditures in GDP, while where this share decreased, GDP growth rates were lower. they are small.

Having considered in detail the role of planning and economic policy in the economic recovery of various Asian countries in the first thirty years after the war, the authors emphasize that these instruments of state regulation remained important even during the period of liberalization. It is thanks to planning and industrial policies that Asian countries in the last two decades of the twentieth century were able to rapidly expand foreign economic relations and mitigate the negative effects of globalization. A sharp increase in the role of external, often unfavorable factors in the economy in the era of globalization makes it necessary to predict possible shifts in the international division of labor and develop a strategy for adapting to them. The opening of national economies required new forms and instruments of foreign economic activity (FEA) from Asian countries, of which the authors emphasize the use of depreciation of national currencies in order to stimulate exports and protect the domestic market.

In the first post-war years, due to the weakness of national capital, the state was forced to take on the functions of concentrating funds necessary to overcome the investment barrier, primarily in industries with long payback periods - heavy industry and infrastructure. During this period, various forms and methods of direct state support for national producers in agriculture, from which funds were mainly drawn to finance the initial stages of industrialization, and the production of consumer goods, became widespread. This type of assistance has not lost its significance at the present time (for example, State support for farmers is becoming increasingly widespread in Asian countries). However, as the business sector develops and strengthens, and participation in the international division of labor expands, the emphasis in relations between the state and national business begins to shift towards establishing partnership, gradually integrating business into national development strategies, and forming mechanisms that promote the involvement of private business in the system technological and managerial modernization, improving its on-farm efficiency and competitiveness in foreign markets.

Large national corporations purposefully created by the state, which are able to cooperate on equal terms with TNCs or compete with them in foreign markets, have become one of the most effective tools for spreading scientific and technological progress across the entire national economy in Japan, NIS, and later in China. The creation of such corporations allows you to concentrate resources on technologically complex and / or capital-intensive areas of development, which often do not give a quick commercial return. By building transport and communication, scientific and technical, and financial infrastructure, and accelerating the overcoming of regional imbalances, they ultimately contribute to the development of a market economy that meets the interests of private business. By expanding the expansion of powerful national corporations to foreign markets, the state in Japan, NIS, and China at the same time creates the necessary infrastructure for active access to these markets not only for large, but also for medium and small businesses.

page 197
This is also facilitated by the cautious approach of Asian states to privatization, which has not taken on a massive scale almost anywhere except in Turkey. Private business developed and grew with the support of the state in parallel with the development of the public sector, and not at the expense of its destruction. In addition, improving the efficiency of management, skills and efficiency of the bureaucracy, which is a consequence of the information revolution that has unfolded in Asia, helps to mitigate friction between the state and business, making it more loyal to the state.

The study of modernization processes in Asian countries by M. A. Potapov, A. I. Salitsky, and A.V. Shakhmatov is a further development of the main provisions of the modernization theory in the form in which it was established in foreign and domestic literature in the second half of the 1980s (see, for example, Eisenstadt, 1973; Krasilshchikov et al., 1994). It complements and concretizes many theoretical conclusions of prominent Russian scientists V. V. Krylov, N. A. Simonia, and V. G. Khoros concerning various aspects of modernization in their works on the development of liberated states, which are largely based on the authors of the peer-reviewed book [Krylov, 1997; Simonia, 1975; Khoros, 1980; Khoros,1997; Simonia, 1975]. 1993]. Modernization in its modern understanding is interpreted as a kind of synthesis of traditional structures and socio-cultural values and borrowed civilizational achievements, cultural, political, socio-economic experience from outside. The most important task of the development strategy of the Eastern states is to search for such a synthesis, which turns out to be most effective where it was possible to find the best option for a given country. the interaction of the imperatives of modernity borrowed from outside and traditional structures, the violation of the balance between which condemns modernization to failure.

Modern researchers of modernization point out the internal inconsistency of this process, the alternation of periods with the predominance of elements of modernity or tradition. At the same time, the reaction of traditionalism to the depth and nature of the affirmation of modernity can either contribute to the adaptation of elements of modernity to social structures, or cause their rejection and, as a result, inhibit the modernization process or even rollback it. "The history of modernization knows periodic disruptions, stagnation and backtracking movements," notes V. G. Khoros [Khoros, 1993, p. 14]. Considering the experience of agricultural transformation and industrialization in Asian countries, the authors of the reviewed book also draw attention to the non-rectilinear nature of the modernization process, zigzags, stops on this path, and even a temporary setback. These conclusions echo the results of the study of contradictions between modernization, reform and counter-reform processes in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, contained in an earlier work of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences [Upgrade features..., 1997].

The core of economic modernization in Asian countries was the process of industrialization, which began in the 1950s-1960s and continues to this day. The features of industrialization in different groups of countries, its results and the shifts in the structure of the economy caused by industrialization are considered in the second chapter of the book. The authors ' analysis of national industrial development strategies (import substitution, export orientation, or a combination of both) and their evolution at certain stages, the nature of industrialization (for example, full-scale-in China, India, partial-the creation of labor-intensive production of individual components and components of industrial products in the NIS of the "second wave"), the degree of use of external factors (capital, technology, demand) and other features of industrialization in different groups of countries shows that "virtually no economically successful Asian countries have escaped industrialization, and some have carried it out in forced mode... Conversely, economic problems are extremely acute where industrialization is stalled or curtailed, interrupted by military operations or internal conflicts " (pp. 59-60).

The transformation of Asia into the "workshop of the world" was accompanied by the development of the service sector, the strengthening of old and the formation of new industries in the tertiary sector. The service sector, which is significantly less productive than the industrial sector, contributes much more to solving the problem of employment, absorbing the bulk of the labor force released from agriculture. However, with the growing demand of the population of Asian countries for material products, expanding the service sector, facilitating and accelerating the development of missile defense-

page 198
industry and agriculture, however, cannot replace them. A significant excess of the share of industry in GDP over the share of the service sector in a number of countries (China, oil exporting countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam) is a characteristic feature of the structure of the economy of modern Asia and another confirmation of the ongoing industrialization here. The authors believe that the development of the post-industrial world's achievements in the field of information and communication services by the Asian population simultaneously with the ongoing industrialization "promises to provide new examples of successful economic construction and creative solutions to national problems" (p. 83).

Structural changes in the economies of Asian countries resulting from modernization and industrialization contribute to the transformation of these countries into active participants in the process of globalization. The share of Asian countries in world exports increased from 10% in 1950 to 30% in 2005. In turn, the growing involvement in the process of globalization, the need to adapt to its requirements and gain competitive positions in the global economy affect the nature and pace of structural transformations of national economies in Asia. Some aspects of the interaction of internal and external factors of modernization, which has become much more complex in the era of globalization, are considered in the fifth chapter of the book. Priority attention is paid here to the issues of choosing models of foreign economic policy and mechanisms of foreign economic activity regulation that are most effective in terms of influencing modernization processes, which are extremely important in practical terms, but have not yet been unambiguously interpreted in the literature. In particular, the authors question the indisputability of the opinion established in the economic literature about the preference for a high degree of openness national economy and greater efficiency of export orientation in comparison with import substitution, which is fair for the post-war period, but at the present stage requires some adjustment.

The authors do not deny that the gradual increase in the openness of national economies is the prevailing trend in modern regulation of interstate economic relations, but consider it necessary to pay attention to the objective nature of differences in the pace of this process in individual countries, the absence of the fatal inevitability of forced opening of national economies, as well as to the changing, constantly

Changes in the nature and intensity of the influence of external factors of modernization in the late XX - early XXI centuries, associated with processes in various areas of foreign economic activity (foreign trade, capital and service flows, scientific and technical cooperation, etc.), are evaluated in the book as positive, although with certain reservations. They allow Asian countries to overcome the problems caused by a lack of currency that hinders their economic development, get rid of excessive dependence on external sources of financing, and give them greater freedom in choosing the goals and methods of economic policy and tools for its implementation.

However, the liberated Asian countries are still far from becoming full-fledged participants in the international division of labor, and they retain a peripheral position in the global economy, which does not allow them to fully use the benefits of globalization, but makes them particularly acutely aware of its negative consequences. The desire to make fuller and fairer use of the benefits of globalization and reduce its risks gave a new impetus to the development of regional cooperation in Asia, which began in the 1960s, as an attempt to overcome the negative consequences of unilateral linking to the world market and in response to the integration process unfolding in Europe.

Using the example of regional entities in Asia, especially the largest of them-ASEAN, the authors trace the specifics of Asian regionalization processes (in particular, the reluctance of participants in such associations to transfer part of their sovereignty to collective bodies) and note that it will not necessarily lead to integration along the European model. This distinguishes their point of view from the position of proponents of considering integration within the EU and EFTA as the only possible effective integration model [see, for example, Shishkov, 2001]. Indeed, regionalization in Asian countries is still at an early stage, its level is not comparable to the level of integration in the EU, but it tends to grow.

The increase in the level of regionalization in Asia is largely due to the intensification of the participation of Asian countries in the international division of labor in the 1990s and the beginning of the XXI century, as well as rapid diversification of labor markets.-

page 199
increasing the number of industrial exports, increasing the inflow of foreign investment, and deepening the specialization of Asian countries, which increase the attractiveness of the markets of neighboring countries, and strengthen the complementarity of their economies as a basis for cooperation. A deeper involvement in the process of globalization thereby expands the opportunities for regional cooperation and increases interest in its institutionalization. In turn, with the development of Asian regionalization, the main form of which is currently bilateral and multilateral agreements on preferential (free) trade, the level of liberalization of foreign trade in Asian countries also increases, the region's investment attractiveness increases due to the removal of customs barriers, and additional opportunities for more effective participation in the global economy are created. Thus, the authors take a balanced approach to assessing the interaction between globalization and regionalization. In their opinion, these trends are to a certain extent complementary, although in some ways they contradict each other, and at a certain stage one or the other the trend may be prevailing. This approach echoes the view that is very common in Asian countries themselves [see, for example, Le Bo Linh and Doan Hong Quang, 2004, p. 31-64].

The book is not without its shortcomings, which, however, do not detract from its merits. Most of them seem to be related to the authors ' desire to fit an extremely large amount of factual and statistical material into the obviously narrow framework of 13 printed pages. As a result, some issues did not receive proper coverage. Thus, little attention is paid to the issues of scientific and technical cooperation that are extremely important for developing countries. The analysis of individual processes and phenomena requires more detail, which would help clarify the authors ' conclusions. This applies, for example, to specifying the role of certain services in increasing labor productivity in developing economies (p. 73, 103). Given that the very concept of modernization in our time has already begun to be forgotten, it would probably make sense for the authors to clearly formulate their understanding of this term.

The book under review is of particular interest to our readers due to the fact that many of the authors ' observations and conclusions are not only applicable to Asian countries, but also have practical significance for Russia. Using the experience of Asian countries (taking into account our national characteristics) could help solve some of the most acute problems facing the Russian economy. In their future work, the authors would like to pay attention to the possibilities of using Russia's experience of modernization in Asian countries.

list of literature

Krasilshchikov V. A., Gutnik V. P., Kuznetsov V. M., Belousov A. R., Klepach A. N. Modernization: foreign experience and Russia. Moscow, 1994.

Krylov V. V. Theory of formations. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1997.

Myrdal City Modern problems of the "third world". Moscow, 1972.

Features of modernization in the Muslim East. Experience of Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Moscow: IV RAS Publ., 1997.

Simonia N. A. Countries of the East: ways of development. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1975.

V. G. Khoros Ideological trends of the narodnik type in developing countries. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1980.

Khoros V. G. Presentation at the round table "Russian modernization: problems and prospects" // Questions of philosophy. 1993. N 7.

Shishkov Yu. V. Integration processes on the threshold of the XXI century. Why the CIS countries are not integrating.
Eisenstadt S.N. Tradition, Change and Modernity. N.Y., 1973.

Le Bo Linh and Doan Hong Quang. Globalization, Regional Integration and the Future of East Asian Economic Cooperation // Towards East Asian Economic Community. Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of World Economics and Politics. Ha Noi, 2004.

Permanent link to this publication: