The Institute of Oriental Studies of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

(), formerly Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, is a Russian research institution for the

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...

of the countries and cultures of Asia and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. The institute is located in Moscow, and formerly in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, but in 2007 the Saint Petersburg branch was reorganized into a separate Institute of Oriental Manuscripts.

History

The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) history began in 1818, when an Asiatic Museum under the Imperial Academy of Sciences was set up in St. Petersburg. It was a depository of oriental manuscripts, a museum with exposition for visitors, a scientific and organizing center for oriental studies as well as a library for academic research. At the beginning of the 20th century, by the 100th anniversary of its foundation, the Asian Museum became an Oriental center with a collection of manuscripts in 45 oriental languages and a library. In 1929–30 the Oriental Department of the Academy of Sciences was reorganized, and the Institute of Oriental Studies was created on the basis of the Museum under the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1950, the institute was transferred to Moscow. Under Soviet leadership, the institute was tasked with political work as well as basic research. For example, the program for 1953 included "unmasking the colonial policy of imperialism" and opposing "the lying falsifications of bourgeois Orientalists, and of humanity-hating race 'theories'." In 2005, the RAS separated the IOS from its St. Petersburg branch, giving the latter independent status as the Institute of Eastern Manuscripts. In 2013, the Russian government transferred control of the IOS, together with all other RAS academic institutes, to a government agency (FASO). In 2018,

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

's greeting to the IOS 200th anniversary celebration noted the importance of its "providing expert support for foreign policy decisions and promoting Russia's strategic interests." Now, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences is a research center where history and culture, economics and politics, languages and literature of the countries of Asia and North Africa are studied. The chronology covers the history of the Orient from antiquity to the present day. Most scientific centers and departments of the institute conduct research on certain countries and regions (e.g., Center for Arab Studies, Center for Japanese Studies, Center for Indian Studies, etc.). Some departments conduct research on problems of the Orient (in particular, the Center for Energy and Transport Studies, etc.). The institute's depositories contain ancient books and manuscripts, exceeding one million volumes. The institute develops contacts with the Indian Council for Social Sciences Researches and with some universities of India, with the International Association for Mongol Studies as well as with the scientific and non-governmental organization of Arab countries (e.g. ALECSO). Institute publishing includes the following: * Southeast Asia: current problems of development, * Eastern Archives, * Epigraphics of the Orient, * Japan, Altaica and Irano-Slavica. * Vostok/Oriens for specialists, * The magazine ''Asia and Africa Today'' for the general public, * Institute of Africa of the RAS. The institute founded the Oriental University (www.orun.ru), which trains people in regional studies and orientalists for scientific and teaching work, public service, to work at international organizations and commercial enterprises, etc.

Internet journal ''New Eastern Outlook''

According to its website, this journal primarily focuses on the region from "Japan and the remote coasts of Africa" but also examines events elsewhere "as they relate to the Orient." In 2019,

Kevin Poulsen Kevin Lee Poulsen (born November 30, 1965) is an American contributing editor at ''The Daily Beast'', a former black-hat hacker, and convicted fraudster. Biography He was born in Pasadena, California, on November 30, 1965. On June 1, 1990, P ...

in ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' accused it of being a source of Russian propaganda and

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

. In 2017, ''Politico'' published the titles of some article appearing in ''New Eastern Outlook'': * "Ukraine’s Ku Klux Klan — NATO’s New Ally." * "Proof: Turkey Did 2013 Sarin Attack and Did This One Too" * If NATO wants peace and stability it should stay home" and * "Brussels, NATO and the Globalists in Total Disarray." According to the

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(2020), the journal is a "pillar of Russia's

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

and propaganda system", which "promotes disinformation and propaganda focused primarily on the Middle East, Asia, and Africa....while also obscuring its links to state-funded institutions." Articles from ''New Eastern Outlook'' have been published by the American conspiracy site ''

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'', a partnership which began in 2013.

Partnerships and collaborations

There are scientific contacts with Turkey, India, Egypt, Japan, Iran, and China. Institute research topics have included: * "Comprehensive study of ethnogenesis, ethnic and cultural image of the people, contemporary ethnic processes, historical and cultural cooperation in Eurasia", * "Studying the historical roots of terrorism, monitoring of xenophobia and extremism in Russian society, anthropology of extreme groups and subcultures, an analysis of the complex ethnic and religious factors in the local and global processes of the past and present", * "Problems of the theory of historical process, summarizing the experience of social transformation and social potential of the history", * "The evolution of human societies and civilizations: the man in the history and the history of everyday life. Retrospective analysis of forms and contents of relations between the authorities and society", * "Study of the spiritual and aesthetic values of national and world literature and folklore", * "Genesis and the interaction of social, cultural and linguistic communities", * "The historical experience of social transformation and conflict".

Structure

* Department of Israel * Department of the History of the Orient * Department of the History and Culture of the Ancient Orient * Department of China * Department of the Problems of International Relations * Department of Korea and Mongolia * Department of Asian Literatures * Department of Monuments of Oriental Writing * Department of Comparative Theoretical Studies * Department of Comparative Culture Studies * Department of

Near NEAR or Near may refer to: People * Thomas J. Near, US evolutionary ichthyologist * Near, a developer who created the higan emulator Science, mathematics, technology, biology, and medicine * National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR), a form ...

and

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

* Department of CIS Countries * Department of

Southeast Asian Studies Southeast Asian studies (SEAS) refers to research and education on the language, culture, and history of the different states and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia. Some institutions refer to this discipline as ASEAN Studies since most of the countri ...

* Department of Economics Research * Department of

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Research * Asian Languages Department * Center for Arabic and Islamic Studies * Center for

Indian Studies Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...

* Center for

Japanese Studies , sometimes known as Japanology in Europe, is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese language, history, culture, litera ...

References

External links