• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.23-56
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• 2020

The study of Putin's Russia should be placed in a broad historiographical context, prevailing in the West. While in the beginning of the post-Soviet era, most observers believed that Russia would reach a Fukuyamian "end of history," the situation is quite different now. At present, Western observers see Putin's Russia as the manifestation of authoritarianism. While this assumption is undoubtedly true, it does not provide much insight into the regime's operational model. Here, a comparison with Renaissance and early modern Europe might provide a clue to the operational model of the regime. Similar to early modern European rulers, Putin limits the use of direct and wide use of force, preferring manipulation, corruption, and the targeted killing of his most important enemies. In foreign policy, Putin has tried to avoid wholesale conflicts and broadly uses mercenaries, whose relationships with the Kremlin are downplayed. The similarities between Putin's regime and early modern European regimes do not mean that their destinies will be the same. In Europe, the Renaissance led to centralized states, whereas in Russia, the "Renaissance" could well lead to the country's disintegration.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.57-86
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• 2020

This article is an analysis of the tale Munhŭi who bought a dream which has been reported, with few variants, both in Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa. As the tale narrates a very particular and old dream, in which a urine flood forecasts kingship and royalty, it has not been investigated here on the basis of a modern psycho-analytical approach, but within eastern and western ancient cultural patterns regarding humans' consideration for excreta and criteria of dreams interpretation. The research led the author to propose for Munhŭi's dream an archaic (and today lost) archetype of interpretation, whose origin is perhaps to be found in the Ancient Middle-East.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.87-120
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• 2020

This article introduces the texts of Manchu shamanistic prayers recorded in a manuscript by Sergei A. Polevoi, a Russian and an American Sinologist from the first part of the twentieth century. The Manchu original text of these prayers (but not the Polevoi's variant) was recently published by Ye (2018), which, however lacks detailed linguistic analysis. Polevoi's texts are in the slightly outdated romanization of Manchu with no linguistic analysis, translation, and commentary that are provided below by the author. While this publication will be of minor interest to the specialists on Manchu shamanism, it would be important to linguists specializing in the Manchu and Tungusic languages and philology, as the text reflects in all probability the eighteenth century Manchu preserved in romanization, and, therefore priceless for the linguistic analysis.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.121-152
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• 2020

The article is a critical examination of the political developments in Armenia since the 'Velvet Revolution' of April-May 2018, when, on the wave of massive protests against the ruling regime, new young forces came to power raising amongst broad segments of population enormous enthusiasm and hopes about radical reforms that would lead to profound transformations in the political and socio-economic spheres. It contains a thorough analysis of underlying political processes in the country in an attempt to answer a number of topical questions, so important to get a deeper understanding of the situation in Armenia and in the South Caucasus region. Based on the analysis of the new authorities' performance against the acknowledged benchmarks and standards of democracy consolidation, such as: separation of powers, independence of the judiciary, good governance, transitional justice the author comes to the conclusion that they failed to achieve any breakthrough in the above-mentioned fields. On the contrary, as demonstrated by concrete examples, what occurred in Armenia was not a revolution but a mere regime change under the leadership of Prime Minister Pashinyan, who gradually has concentrated in his hands executive, legislative, and quasi-totality of the judicial branch of power.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.141-164
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• 2020

The article closely considers an important aspect of the operation of nomadic charisma that has not yet been sufficiently addressed by historians. To do so, it examines the dynamics of nomadic power relations and the nomads' ensuing sense of properly balanced relations of power that found its manifestation when their rulers were required to share power in an effective way, one that would satisfy all parties involved. This was translated into the requirement to comply with established norms of social reciprocity toward one's kinsfolk that became crystallized into certain patterns of behavior. I argue that adherence to these patterns constituted the essential attributes of the nomads' psychological and cultural expectations that shaped their perception of a charismatic style of ruling.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.1-24
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• 2020

Afghanistan has experienced more than four decades of severe disruption, ever since the communist coup of April 1978 plunged the country into a state of disorder that was then severely aggravated by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. Despite the high hopes that accompanied the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan's path in the first two decades of the 21st century has proved to be anything but smooth, and this article highlights a confluence of challenges - political, diplomatic, and societal - that Afghanistan presently faces, challenges that in large measure account for the profound uncertainty that clouds its future. The article is divided into four sections. The first provides some context for the discussion of these three challenges. The remaining sections investigate the particular challenges - intra-elite rivalries, a fragile and defective peace process, and the underreported but grave threat to life and limb in Afghanistan resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic - in more detail. Together, these challenges highlight the dangers of wishful thinking about harsh realities.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.51-90
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• 2020

The city of Sumqayit in Azerbaijan was famous in the USSR for its chemical plants, which supplied the whole country with plastics, detergents, and fertilizers. While production increased in the post-WWII period, young people from remote Caucasian villages were attracted as workers to the industrial settlement on the shore of the Caspian Sea and worked together with specialists from all over the USSR. Migration did not stop when the USSR collapsed. To the contrary, mobility increased as Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia and IDPs from Karabakh fled to Sumqayit, which grew to become the second-largest city of Azerbaijan. Although a generation has passed since the ceasefire, IDPs still are separately administered. In the last 20 years, more and more internal migrants have chosen the Greater Baku Region as their destination, mostly finding jobs in the informal labor market. In the post-independence transformative period, informal housing has offered migrants a place to stay in the city. Sumqayit can be regarded as an arrival city, an established urban platform for migrants who prefer internal over transnational migration.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.91-110
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• 2020

This paper traces the trajectory of a variety of complicated economic and political developments between China and India - the world's most ancient civilizations connected by rich history. These recent developments, which are heavily acrimonious and include military clashes involving loss of lives, have greatly damaged bilateral relations. The paper examines the reasons behind the bilateral relations dipping to new lows. Aside from specific bilateral disputes like outstanding border problems, China-India relations have been affected by global and regional developments. The paper identifies rising tensions between the U.S. and China, the evolution of the Belt and Road Initiative, and the growth of the Indo-Pacific construct, as the reasons that have expanded distance and mistrust between the two countries. Both China and India are now part of country coalitions aiming to marginalize each other's strategic influences. The paper argues that such efforts by them are going to impact countries in their neighbourhood - such as in Central Asia - by forcing them to make complex choices in the areas of trade engagement and technological development.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.119-140
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• 2021

Relations between Ankara and Washington, which have hardly been harmonious, recently became extremely tense, especially when Turkey decided to deal with Kurdish enclaves nearby its border. Russia naturally took advantage of the tension by providing Turkey with advanced S-400 missiles and by trying to play a peacemaking role in contested regions within Syria. Ankara's dealings with Moscow alienated it from NATO and the USA, and complicated relations with Russia and its allies in Syria, where Turkey's interests collided with those of Tehran and Moscow. While these aspects of the Ankara/Moscow relationship are well known, this article explores how the discovery of natural gas in the Mediterranean has increased Ankara's importance to Moscow, as a means of sowing dissension within NATO and helping Moscow hinder the emergence of alternative gas suppliers to Europe.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-30
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• 2021

Education is a key element in shaping the worldview of the next generation and determines society's core values, ideology, and basic understanding of human rights. While Kyrgyzstan is a secular state, Islamic education, backed by Arab and Turkish sponsors, continues to increase in popularity with the construction of thousands of mosques and dozens of new Islamic educational institutions. Young women have become an important target for Islamic ideology and Islamic educational institutions seek to introduce a new type of ideal woman who is obedient, submissive, and modest. This research uses curricula content analysis, participant observation, and in-depth interviews with teachers and students to examine the effects of newly introduced Islamic education institutions and concludes that the schools are succeeding in training female Kyrgyz students for sheltered lives of dependency, threatening to fundamentally erode women's rights in the country. Two tasks thus demand the attention of policymakers: preserving Kyrgyzstan's secular state and introducing new interpretations of the Quran, which strengthen support for women's rights among believers.