On March 13-14, 2013, the ISAA of Moscow State University hosted the All-Russian memorial conference "Guber Readings", dedicated to the memory of the outstanding Orientalist academician A. A. Guber (1902-1971), the founder of the school of Russian specialists in the history of Southeast Asian countries. The topic of the conference "Southeast Asian countries and the West: the diversity of forms of their interaction (history and modernity)" aroused great interest among the scientific community. The conference was attended by more than 40 leading specialists of higher educational institutions and research institutions of our country, MSU, MGIMO(U)The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, RSUH, IV RAS, IMEMO RAS, IDV RAS, as well as the Russian International Affairs Council. Students of ISAA and MGIMO actively participated in the work of the readings. The conference was covered by Russian mass media.

I. I. Abylgaziev, Director of the ISAA of Moscow State University, M. S. Meyer, President of the ISAA, and V. E. Smirnov, Deputy Director for Research, addressed the conference participants with a welcoming speech. They emphasized the important role of the "Huber Readings" in maintaining the traditions of Russian Oriental studies and educating a new generation of highly qualified specialists in the Southeast Asian region.-

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The aim of the conference is to formulate an objective scientific assessment of the socio-political situation in the Southeast Asian countries and trace the genesis of modern trends in their development in all its forms.

The conference addressed regional issues, the specifics of individual Southeast Asian countries in historical retrospect and at the present stage; issues of culture and literature, problems of the development of languages of Southeast Asian countries at the present stage. Participants noted that, on the one hand, in the Southeast Asian region, as in the rest of the world, globalization processes are accelerating and development is becoming more universal. On the other hand, the threat of erosion of national identity in the context of globalization encourages Southeast Asian countries to once again turn to their cultural and historical and religious traditions and take a particularly careful approach to their preservation. As a result, the development of modern society in the Southeast Asian countries is becoming increasingly complex and ambiguous.

The first part of the conference was devoted to regional problems. The report of V. A. Tyurin (Institute of International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences) was devoted to the consideration of various models of West-East interaction in Southeast Asia during the era of the "trade colonialism"policy pursued by the European powers. The report showed how representatives of various European powers (Portugal, Holland, England) acted at the first stages of colonial penetration into Southeast Asia and how this affected the subsequent development of the region's countries.

V. V. Sumsky (MGIMO) in his report on modern challenges in Southeast Asia noted that they are not new for the countries of the region and there is already some experience in overcoming them. At the same time, as a rule, these challenges are somehow connected with the influence of the Western model of a liberal-democratic industrial society, which itself is currently experiencing a serious crisis. In this regard, for the countries of the region that demonstrate stable trends of successful modernization, there is a need to search for new development models with a focus on deepening the processes of political democratization and economic modernization.

The report of V. V. Boitsov (ISAA) was devoted to the forms of interaction between the economies of Southeast Asia and the West under the influence of globalization. The presentation showed how, under the influence of the needs of the world market and foreign capital, the dynamics of economic development of Southeast Asian countries since the XIX century has significantly accelerated, especially after they achieved political independence. However, despite the obvious progress in the economic sphere and positive changes in the quality of life of the population, they still remain on the periphery of the world economy in the position of a region dependent on the most developed and economically rich countries of Western Europe, North America and Japan. According to the author, this is primarily determined by the secondary nature of their scientific and technical base, and the situation is unlikely to change in the long term. Therefore, the most promising approach for Southeast Asian countries may be to include them not so much in new production chains, but in research and development as junior partners.

L. M. Efimova (MGI(U)MO) presented the report "Challenges of modernity and Islamic public thought in Southeast Asia" and in her speech highlighted the main directions of development of public thought in four states where the majority of Southeast Asian Muslims live-Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, identified the specifics of its reflection of global challenges of our time in their specific country refraction, showed the impact on them of the internal political situation characteristic of a particular country. South-East Asia, she noted, is an important part of the Islamic world. The World Islamic Community of Co-religionists (umma), like the entire world community, is currently experiencing the impact of such major challenges of our time as modernization, globalization, democratization, and the environmental crisis. The Islamic world's response to these challenges has been the modern Islamic renaissance, the growing role of religion, the politicization and radicalization of Islam, and the rise of Muslim terrorism. The Muslim public thought of Southeast Asia is influenced by both global challenges and the processes that are taking place in the Islamic Ummah today.

Natalia Rogozhina (IMEMO) considered the impact of the globalization process on the environmental policies of Southeast Asian countries through their integration into the global economy, participation in global environmental projects, development of international environmental cooperation, and formation of civil society.
D. V. Mosyakov's report (IB RAS) was devoted to the changing situation around the conflict in the South China Sea.

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Message subject E. A. Kutova (ISAA) results of the APEC-2012 summit in Vladivostok. It was noted that the Russian chairmanship in APEC was built with a focus on implementing the strategic line of organic entry into the political and economic space of the Asia-Pacific region in the interests of modernization and innovative development of the national economy, primarily in the regions of Siberia and the Far East. From this point of view, the main documents adopted at the summit are considered, which, in particular, reflect Russian initiatives on the development of the potential of the Trans-Siberian Railway and its connection with the Trans-Korean Highway, the Northern Sea Route, the creation of a GLONASS-based space monitoring system for goods and transport flows, etc.

N. N. Bektimirova (ISAA) considered the peculiarities of interaction between Cambodia and the West at the turn of the century and analyzed the process of 20-year interaction between Cambodia and the Western community in the implementation of political and economic modernization of the Cambodian state. The process of reforming the economic sphere, in which the external factor remains crucial, has led to obvious positive results, although it has contributed to the erosion of a number of values and traditional practices of Khmer society. The evolution of Khmer national consciousness is ambiguous, and its consequences will only become more apparent in the long run. The results of Cambodia's political modernization are quite modest; in the political sphere, the norms and perceptions of traditional political culture (paternalism and patronage) continue to have a strong influence, and there are no signs of their weakening yet.

Other (IB RAS) focused on the problem of basic human rights in modern Indonesia in the light of traditional political culture and traditional values. In particular, it was noted that the national consciousness of Indonesians in its development by a large margin overtakes civil and public. The citizen's awareness of himself as a person, as an individual and a citizen overcomes the burden of the colonial and authoritarian heritage. With great difficulty, both society and the elite come to a real assessment of human rights violations during the military regime. Since the ideology of human rights protection comes from the West, it is rejected by the nationalist consciousness.

The topic of the report by G. V. Suchkov (Institute of International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences) is Indonesia in Australia's foreign policy at the current stage of interaction between the two states. The speaker focused on a separate period of cooperation between the two countries, analyzing the nature of political interaction between Australia and Indonesia after the events of May 1998, which led to the resignation of President Suharto and changed the status quo in Indonesia. The declaration of independence of Indonesia in August 1945 opened a new page in the life of the people of this state, who were faced with the need to solve a wide range of issues. The young republic's search for its place in the international coordinate system was also a serious problem. The history of Indonesia's foreign policy is a common thread in discussions about what path the country should take. Several circumstances that Jakarta takes into account when conducting its diplomatic policy remain unchanged, including Indonesia's special relations with its southern neighbor, Australia.

M. V. Frolova (ISAA) made a report on the image of the Indo-European ("orang Indo") in the Indonesian novels of the XX century, which reflects the main features of the East-West confrontation in fiction. Using the example of two well-known Indonesian novels, The Wrong Upbringing by Abdul Muis (1928) and Departure by N. H. Dini (1977), the situation of Indo-Europeans as a minority, which was not fully accepted by either Europe or Southeast Asia, was shown.

The report of A. A. Simonia (Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences) was devoted to the gradual transition of Myanmar from isolationism to openness towards the West. During the colonial period, the West was Burma's mother country. In the first years of independence, the focus shifted to the United States. However, after the military coup of 1962, Burma chose the path of equidistance from the great Powers. After the new military regime came to power in 1988, the repressive nature of the military junta increased the isolation of Burma/Myanmar from the West. The past two years have seen historic shifts in the nature of relations and interaction between Myanmar and the West.

The topic of the presentation by E. M. Astafieva (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) is "Singapore: problems of Westernization in the context of expanding the influence of Protestant ethics". The report examined the implications of Westernization in the context of widespread Protestantism in Singapore, and

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also, the government's measures to preserve "Asian values". By creating "shared values", an attempt was made to adapt the discontented" Asian (Confucian) values " of national minorities to the realities of Singapore, with an emphasis on the fact that such an orientation towards modern transformed Confucianism is not an affirmation of Chinese ideology, but rather a return to universal moral values.

E. S. Kukushkina (ISAA) traced the main trends of the transition from Anglophilia to Anglophobia in pre-war Malay literature. It showed the attitude of the colonial administration towards the British in Malay society before the Second World War, which found expression in literature (1920-1940) - the emergence of pronounced anti-British sentiments and the change in the nature of the assessment of the British by Malays. The very position of the British as rulers determined loyalty to them on the part of the Malay population in accordance with the traditional Malay state-ethical concept. On the eve of World War II, the development of Malay nationalism led to a gradual spread of negative attitudes towards the British as oppressors. Over time, it acquired an ethnic coloring: the British began to be perceived not only as representatives of the authorities, but also as carriers of certain national character traits that were unsympathetic or even unacceptable to the Malays.

In the report of E. A. Baklanova (ISAA) on the problem of borrowing in modern Tagalog, it was noted that since the beginning of the XX century, the American colonial policy in the Philippines has led to the successful introduction of English into many spheres of society. This triggered the development of bi-and polylingualism among Filipinos, as well as their borrowing of a significant number of English-language lexemes. In turn, almost half a century of American domination of the archipelago was reflected in the language of the colonialists: by the 1960s, lexicographers registered several hundred loanwords in American English, learned from Filipino languages.

A. O. Zakharov (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences), considering the political organization of early Southeast Asia, noted that the study of ancient and medieval Southeast Asia in modern historiography in a certain sense is an attempt to describe other cultures in the language of researchers. The current world is largely built according to the Western European / American political-economic, social and cultural model, which determines the use of the concepts of this model in the study of the past of other countries and regions. At the same time, the awareness of the otherness of other cultures, persons, epochs, civilizations, and ideas has led researchers to try to describe these cultures in their own terms and at the same time show inattention to the terminology of ancient texts. It was the identification of this terminology and its comparative analysis in different communities of the 1st millennium AD that made up the task of the report.

M. Y. Ulyanov (ISAA) made a report " The Spanish expedition to the Moluccas1519-1522: its goals and place in it of Fernand de Magallanes (F. Magellan)", which was devoted to the consideration of the circumstances of the death of F. Magellan, a Portuguese by birth, - the leader of the first Spanish expedition to the Moluccas ("Spice Islands"). The report concluded that in Portugal, and then in Spain, thanks to the expedition and the activities of F. Serran was also well-known about the geography of the island part of Southeast Asia, as well as about the complex internal political relations there. In particular, about the struggle for political influence in the Philippines of large states of the island Southeast Asia; about the economic and political rivalry between the sultans of Ternate and Tidore for leadership in Eastern Indonesia and in the south of the Philippines. And of course, about the participation of the Portuguese in this struggle: about their allies and enemies. The plan of the expedition at the court of Charles V was developed with this in mind. With the goal of penetrating Moluccas, the center of production of the most valuable spices, the Spanish expedition also had to solve a number of political tasks. Namely, by negotiating with the rulers of various state entities (both in the Philippines and their overlords in Brunei and the Moluccas), identifying potential political allies of Spain and concluding agreements with them.

I. N. Lipilina (ISAA) reported on the nature and consequences of interaction between Ayutthaya (Siam )and France in the second half of the 17th century. It was noted that France was not the first country to establish relations with Ayutthaya, but unlike other European powers, relations between Ayutthaya and France were more intensive and diverse. Attempts to "spiritually colonize" Ayutthaya by France have prevented deeper contacts, including in the spiritual sphere, in the socio-cultural sphere, and in relations between monarchs. However, the consequences of these contacts were mixed for both countries.

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Considering the influence of Western countries on the socio-economic and political development of Thailand in recent times, V. A. Dolyshkova pointed out that the most active period of establishing intensive ties with the Western world of the Thai kingdom dates back to the second half of the 19th century, during the activity of the kings of Mongkut and Chulalongkorn. The main goal was to preserve political sovereignty and implement a number of socio-economic and political reforms that would promote the development of commodity production and market relations. Reformist activity was characterized by the use of the achievements of Western civilization and scientific and technological progress. At the same time, the Thai monarchs sought to preserve the historically established traditional foundations of the organization of society and the state. It was then that the foundations of modernization were laid, which were manifested later.

In her speech on the influence of the West on the development of Thailand, E. A. Fomicheva (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) noted that since the mid-19th century, Thailand's progress and development have been largely linked to the cultural and political influence of the West. The policy of the authorities (whether it was absolutism or a parliamentary monarchy) was aimed at actively borrowing everything that Thais saw as advanced and modern. Part of the Thai intelligentsia, which adheres to traditionalist views, opposed the introduction of Western cultural values. The issue of Western, primarily American, cultural expansion was particularly acute at the beginning of the XXI century in connection with the processes of globalization.

V. M. Mazyrin (IDV RAS), in his report on the influence of modern Western civilization on Vietnam, highlighted the main stages of Vietnam's interaction with the West. He stressed that Vietnam had experienced several" waves " of Westernization: French colonization (19th century-1954), the Americanization of the South (1954-1975), the socialist transformation of the North (1954-1975), the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976-1991), and international integration and globalization (1990-2000). They had different consequences. The first two aimed to break the traditional foundations, but caused mass resistance. The third one was carried out by the authorities "voluntarily" without direct interference from outside, so it gave a superficial effect. The fourth had a growing impact as contacts with Western civilization expanded. The impact of modern civilization on Vietnamese society has taken the form of Westernization, which defeats traditionalism and is destructive in the social sphere. Undermining traditional social foundations threatens to increase unmanageability in the socio-political sphere and the loss of power of the CPV.

O. V. Novikova (ISAA) She spoke about the Fatz complex, a unique monument of a religious and temple complex that combines Christian ideology and symbols with national Vietnamese architecture, which is located in an enclave of a dense Catholic population in the Seaside region of North Vietnam. In general, it is a vivid example not only of the meeting of two cultures of the West and East, but also of their interaction and mutual influence.

M. A. Syunnerberg (ISAA), based on archival photographic material, showed how the features of two cultures got along within the same Vietnamese family: eastern and European. The civilizational diversity of members of the Ngo Dinh family was largely due to the personality of the head of the Ngo Dinh Kha family, who sought to develop in his children both respect for traditional Vietnamese values (primarily Confucian) and interest in Western civilization. Photographic materials help to visualize as much as possible the characteristics of representatives of the Ngo Dinh family, which, in turn, explain many processes during the period of Ngo Dinh Diem's stay in power in 1955-1963.

T. N. Filimonova (ISAA) in a message dedicated to the novel by a famous Vietnamese writer of the first half of the XX century. Nyat Linya told" Journey to the West", first published in 1935, that it is a first-person narrative written about the trip of a young Vietnamese to study in France and his impressions of the mother country, as well as about compatriots in a foreign land. Since the novel is based on the writer's own trip to France, where he studied from 1927 to 1930, the novel is interesting from the point of view of Vietnamese perception of a completely alien cultural environment, since at that time Vietnam and France were separated in civilizational terms by a chasm. With great humor, and sometimes with bitter irony, the romance describes various aspects of French life (food, transport, leisure, climate, etc.) in comparison with Vietnamese.

A. A. Sokolov (Institute of Cinematography of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report devoted to the history of the formation of Vietnamese cinema, examined its initial period - from the end of the XIX to the beginning of the 40s of the XX century, the process of its evolution from a farce to mass art. The author showed that the development of cinema was largely due to French entrepreneurs and professional cinematographers.

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The first Vietnamese cinematographer was Nguyen Lan Huong, who directed the short comedy "How to buy a Horse for a Penny" and several documentary films. The creation of a truly national cinema was associated with the activities of the film studios "Asia" and "Vietnam", which shot the feature films "All for Love" (1938) and "Evening on the Mekong River" (1939).

I. V. Samarina (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences), speaking about the influence of the West on the development of the Vietnamese language, stressed that the fate of the Vietnamese script was determined by the missionary activity of Europeans, as a result of which by the middle of the XVII century a Latin-based script "quoc ngy" was created, which played a major role in the spread of Christianity in Vietnam. The next historical period when the West had a decisive influence on the Vietnamese language begins with the French colonization of Vietnam in the second half of the 19th century. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Vietnamese language had changed from a spoken language to a literary one, and the "quoc ngy" script was widely used, and in 1910 it became an official language. The spread of Western civilization is accompanied by a flood of borrowings from the French language. In the late XX - early XXI centuries, the Vietnamese language includes a significant number of borrowings from English.

An integrated approach to the issues discussed stimulated an active and interested exchange of opinions of specialists in various scientific disciplines of history, political science, economics and culture. As a result, the discussion became quite voluminous and diverse, which made it possible to present the process of interaction between the Southeast Asian countries and the West in all its rich forms and shades.

The conference materials are planned to be published in the form of a collection of scientific articles.

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