On October 13-14, 2008, the Russian Arabist Conference was held at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The purpose of the conference was to examine the factors that have influenced in historical retrospect and currently influence the formation of the image of the Arab world in the Russian consciousness or the image of Russia in the Arab world, as well as the awareness of mutual cultural otherness between Russians and Arabs, a tolerant attitude towards which is one of the conditions for the implementation of intercultural dialogue. The organizers of the conference proceeded from the fact that understanding the problems associated with the phenomenon of the Other and the "friend" - "alien" opposition makes it possible to analyze a set of real information, as well as myths and stereotypes that determine mutual perception, and to identify ways to overcome conflict situations, which can sometimes be based on mythologized ideas about the Other.

The conference was supposed to address the impulses that influence the perception of the Other, such as the evolution of Russian-Arab cultural, religious, ideological and political contacts, the change in political priorities of the ruling and opposition circles and their reflection in the media, the change in the geopolitical role of the Arab world in international politics, the process of transformation of cultural stereotypes in line with At the same time, the conference organizers set the task for the participants to study the set of concepts and evaluation criteria used to create an image, to determine the spread of various mythologized ideas that exist in society, to understand the relationship between literary and popular traditions, as well as the role of familiar linguistic forms used in creating the image of Another.

All these questions have so far been almost never worked out by domestic Arabists, and the conference was to a certain extent an approach to their study, which explains the shortcomings of the formulation and solution of questions in some reports. Perhaps the main failure resulting from the weak habit ^of reflexive thinking1 was the emphasis on describing the realities of the culture or political institutions of one or the other side, rather than on analyzing the perception of these realities by consciousness.

The first day's meetings were opened by the co-chairman of the conference organizing Committee, MSU ISAA Director M. S. Meyer. He noted the importance and timeliness of addressing this topic and considered some possible approaches to its study. In particular, in his opinion, in the process of direct contacts, one can often find a softening of rigid stereotypes established in the consciousness, a weakening of hostility to a non-believer, as evidenced, for example, by pilgrim literature. At the same time, the perception of other people's realities is affected by changes in one's own culture. Thus, under the influence of the Arab Muslim reformers of the 19th century, the principles of jihad shared by North African society began to be replaced by an interest in the experience of modernization in Russia. To understand cultural otherness, as T. Y. Kobishchanov's observations have shown, it is fruitful to compare views on each other or assessments of the same events of representatives of different cultures. M. S. Meyer drew the attention of the conference participants to the role of repeated sociological surveys as one of the modern ways to identify the dynamics of perception of the Other.

The plenary session opened with a report by Z. I. Levin (IB RAS) "On the mechanism of cross-cultural interaction", which considered the importance of cross-cultural contacts for forming ideas about the Other. The speaker stated that the greatest degree of mutual understanding ² can be achieved only between societies of the same civilizational area and also located at the same level of socio-economic development. Despite the ongoing globalization and planetary standardization, according to Levin, the "threshold of possible acculturation" remains in the world, which makes it unlikely that the synthesis of Eastern and Western cultures is possible. Consequently, the speaker concluded, the acceleration of the process of rapprochement between peoples is possible primarily on the basis of awareness of common interests, and this requires the will of society to know and understand the Other.

¹ Is not the weakness of reflexive thinking a consequence of the long dominance of positivism and dogmatism in science?

² In our opinion, in this case we can talk about the perception of the Other, based to the greatest extent on knowledge of reality and maximum tolerance for its otherness.

In his report "Islam in the Russian tradition: image and event" Yu. V. Lyubimov (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) proceeded from the position that the Image is intensively constructed in conditions of mutual contacts. Since contacts with the Arabs in Russia were weak, the idea of the Arab world and Islam arose among the peoples living in Russia relatively late and mainly under the influence of European, mainly Byzantine, stereotypes that bear the stamp of Christian-Muslim confrontation. Hostility colored the attitude of these peoples towards their Muslim neighbors. However, as it becomes part of the Moscow State/Close peaceful contact between the Christian and Muslim peoples emerged in Russia's territories with Muslim populations in their geopolitical space, and the political elite gradually became aware of the need for dialogue with Muslim subjects. This influenced the softening of the image of Islam among Russians, which affected the construction of the image of Arabs. But the segmental nature and specific nature of contacts with the Arab world (church ties, pilgrimage tradition, the policy of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society - IPPO) contributed to the preservation of the traditional confrontation.

The third plenary report "Russia as a foreign cultural area in the Arab tradition" by M. A. Rodionov [MAE (Kunstkamera) RAS] was presented with theses, the main position of which was to state that the Arab ethnic stereotype of the perception of Russia/Russia was formed under the influence of the general geographical ideas of medieval Arabs about the determining influence of climate on humans ("southern" or "northern"). An analysis of the Arabic written and oral tradition shows that even in our time, the image and topos of Russia are partly built with the help of an established stereotype, which often ignores specific experience. As a result, according to M. A. Rodionov, "the image of Russia is often represented in the Arab tradition according to the laws of the" inverted world "as a kind of exotic space, the cultural rules of which are opposite to"their own". Reinterpreting E. Said, such a construct can be called Eastern "occidentalism"."

The reference to E. Said caused a detailed remark by T. A. Elistratova (Representative of the Cambridge University Publishing House), who noted that little attention was paid to E. Said's views in the Russian Oriental literature. Meanwhile, the treatment of the image of the Other was prepared to a certain extent by this thinker, who opened, in fact, a new stage in Oriental studies. Already in the 1970s, he began to talk about the fact that the image of the East in Western science reflected a vision of the West, largely focused on its own identity. At the same time, there was a well - known substitution-the West gave out "its" for the East. Western scientists sometimes wrote about the East what they wanted to see in it, and not what was in reality. He reproached Western scientists for the excessive politicization of their ideas about the East, which served the interests of imperialist expansion. In other words, E. Said violated the foundations of Western studies and caused a storm of protests.

Since the dichotomy of "East-West" representations has had and continues to have an impact on understanding the image of the Other, the report "East and West in the cultural and philosophical tradition" by N. G. Romanova (IB RAS) was made logical at the conference. The speaker recalled that the juxtaposition of Western and Eastern societies emerged in the ancient era. In the European tradition, this dichotomous method of cognition was used primarily to organize the accumulated information. The view that the West and the East represent two different types of social organization was established in science only by the beginning of the 19th century, initially by German Romantics (F. Schlegel, F. Schelling). Although gradually growing information changed the attitude to this construction, it was not until the twentieth century that the idea of a dualistic juxtaposition of East and West was openly rejected by O. Spengler, Pitirim Sorokin, and A. Toynbee. By the end of the century, a number of Arab scientists, first of all E. Said and A. Abdel-Malek, began to talk about the need for a new type of multidimensional analysis. According to N. G. Romanova, understanding the diversity of the historical process is favored by the dialogue of cultures, in the process of which knowledge of the Other is realized, awareness of the community of humanity, understanding of one's own identity, because, according to M. M. Bakhtin, culture is dialogical in nature, and dialogue is a way of being culture, expressing its essence. Your report N. G. Romanova concluded with a review of the views of V. S. Bibler, who develops the teachings of Bakhtin. According to Bibler, in the modern process of forming universal thinking, there is a search for opportunities for different cultural types to coexist in a single human space.

The meeting of the historical section began with a report by Dmitry Mishin (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Rus Island" in the works of medieval Muslim geography". In his opinion, medieval Muslim geographical works because of their focus on providing the reader

information about different countries and peoples is an important source of forming the image of the Other. However, it is necessary to take into account the fragmentary nature of the information contained in them (Yu. V. Lyubimov calls this "segmentation", i.e. the provision of data on individual ethnic segments, and not ethnic groups as a whole) and the possibility of their distortion in the process of centuries-old transmission. D. E. Mishin devoted his speech to the interpretation of information about the" island of Rus "contained in the" Anonymous note", which reported data from the end of the IX century, which came down to us in later compilations, which distorted the original information. The speaker offered his own solution to the two-century-old scientific dispute over the location of the island and the ethnic identity of the Rus. Already in the article written on the topic of the report, D. E. Mishin was inclined to localize the island on Lake Melaren in modern Sweden and Birka as a settlement of Rus on this island, believing, according to the Norman theory, that the Normans were called Rus in the note.

The opponent of the concept of D. E. Mishin was E. S. Galkina (Moscow State Pedagogical University), who defended one of the most common ideas in science that we are talking about Russ-Slavs who settled between the Volga and the Don.

The report of S. A. Kirillina (ISAA) "The Holy Land in Russian pilgrimage descriptions of the XVI-XVIII centuries" was devoted to one of the most important genres of ancient Russian literature, which, in addition to religious and symbolic ones, conveys unique information "lying beyond the borders of textbook pilgrimage interests" (about religious cults, customs, customs, mentality of the local population, curiosities and curiosities). According to the speaker, the characteristic features of this literature were the informative ambiguity of various passages, the persistent persistence of descriptive stereotypes, and the perception of Islam as a heretical and hostile teaching to Christianity. The most informative in terms of conveying the realities were the late pilgrimages (XVI-XVIII centuries), which are characterized by an ambiguous assessment of Islam (along with the demonization of its image, admiration for Muslim architecture, decorative art, etc.).

In his report "Some objects of Russian liturgical use in the perception of representatives of the Patriarchate of Antioch in the middle of the 17th century", D. G. Davidezho (Kremlin Museums) examined the attitude of Eastern Orthodox hierarchs to the use of bells (in the Eastern church - bila) and the placement of wooden sculptures in Russian churches. Information about this is contained in the description of Paul of Aleppo's visit to Moscow by Patriarch Macarius (1654-1656) and in the less well-known data that have come down to us about his second visit in 1666-1668. As a result of the analysis of these sources, the speaker came to the conclusion that if the tradition of bell ringing in Russia had taken root by that time and ceased to evoke Western Christian associations among Eastern hierarchs, then the presence of wooden sculptures in churches still reminded them of liturgical traditions alien to Eastern Orthodoxy. All this shows, according to D. G. Davidenko, the attention of Orthodox Arabs to Russian liturgical traditions and the high authority of both churches in the eyes of each other.

In the report "The Russian Expedition to the Eastern Mediterranean 1769 - 1774 in the perception of Syrian contemporaries" T. Y. Kobishchanov (ISAA) introduced into scientific circulation the reports of Arab chroniclers about two sieges of Beirut by the Russian fleet, carried out during the Russo-Turkish war. These materials testified, according to the speaker, that in the minds of Arab chroniclers, ideas about state citizenship prevailed over ethnic and religious differences, since both Christians and Muslims saw only "Muscovites" in the besiegers, not distinguishing between Russians and Greeks and Arnauts (Albanians) in their service. Religious sympathies for the "Muscovites" were shown only by the Damascus Christian Break, who linked the fleet's actions with the hope of liberation from Ottoman rule. T. Y. Kobishchanov admits that these sentiments were widespread and widespread, but were kept secret, as can be seen from the brutal persecution after the war by Ahmed Jezzar of those Syrians who were accused of collaborating with the Ottoman Empire. by Russians. However, in general, the chroniclers ' negative perception of the actions of the "Muscovites", who subjected the residents of Beirut to suffering, prevailed. At the same time, the political interaction of the Arab ruling elite with the Russian Navy was noted by chroniclers outside of Muslim didactics,i.e. accusations of violating jihad.

I. M. Smilyanskaya's report "The influence of large cultural styles on the formation of the image of the Arab world in the minds of Russians" examined the impact of Baroque, Enlightenment and Romanticism discourses on the perception of Mashreq Arabs by Russians. According to the speaker, the medieval Russian consciousness, due to its religious orientation towards the afterlife, was focused on the development of the Holy Land by pilgrims as the center of the universe and the prototype of the Kingdom of God. They perceived the Arab world in terms of Old Testament and New Testament history. Under

under the influence of the secularization of culture that took place in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, the picture of the world began to become more complex, including real ideas in this symbolic image and softening the attitude towards Islam. In the age of Enlightenment, the secularization of the consciousness of the educated part of society, the emergence of the cult of imperial power and the formation of national consciousness, I. M. Smilyanskaya believes, gave rise to geopolitical thinking and the desire for political and cultural development of the world space. This is a time of cognitive and exploration trips, compilation of atlases, encyclopedias, dictionaries, translations of relevant Western European literature. Although the rhetoric of official Russian propaganda remains anti-Muslim, military-political and diplomatic contacts with the Arab political elite have already erased the demonic features of the Arab Muslim world, which is gradually gaining a real image. In the era of Romanticism, orientalism with its belief that the East is immanently inherent in specific features is becoming widespread. This brought to life new ideas and forms of describing the Arab world. Realism in literature and art coincided with the emergence of scientific methods for recreating the Arab image and, possibly, with the strengthening of ideological and political factors influencing this process.

In the report "Russian-Ottoman confrontation in the perception of Moroccans (XVIII-XIX centuries)" V. V. Orlov (ISAA) drew attention to the low awareness of Russia ("Muscovites") in Morocco until the end of the XIX century. as well as the differences in attitudes towards the" Muscovites " of the Moroccan common people and the elite, and the noticeable fluctuations in the perception of Russia by the elite. The hostile attitude towards Russia since the end of the 18th century was generated by the Moroccan experience of a long-term Islamic-Christian confrontation during the European aggression in Morocco and caused by a sense of Muslim solidarity with the Ottoman Empire, which suffered defeats in the Russo-Turkish wars. Nevertheless, the sober calculation of the Moroccan ruling circles contributed to the opening of negotiations on the Russian - Moroccan treaty in the 1770s and 1780s. The rivalry of the Moroccan state with the Ottoman Empire for influence in the Muslim world, based on the origin of the Moroccan ruling dynasty (as opposed to the Ottoman one) from the Prophet Muhammad, giving rise to a feeling of jealousy towards Istanbul, caused the political elite of the late XIX century to sympathize with the Russian victors in the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Russia's recognition of the independence of the Moroccan sultanate in 1897 G. and the position of Russian diplomacy in the" Moroccan issue", according to V. Putin. V. Orlov, contributed "to the formation of new stereotypes of mutual perception of the elites of the Far Maghreb and the Russian Empire".

The topic of V. V. Orlova was continued by M. A. Sapronova (MGIMO) in the report "Dynamics of ideas about the countries of North Africa in travel notes of Russian travelers and military reviews of representatives of the General Staff of the XIX century". According to her, this information sometimes bore the stamp of Eurocentrism, a romantic fascination with Eastern exotics and, as a rule, sympathy for the Arab liberation struggle. In the second half of the 19th century, there was a special interest on the part of Russia in the organization of French colonial administration (explained by the attempts of the Russian bureaucracy to use the French experience in managing the Caucasus).

The report of M. F. Vidyasova (ISAA) and Nezhmeddin Kazdagli (Institute of Languages at the University of Carthage, Tunis) "Ideas about the Russian Empire of Tunisian contemporaries and the image of Tunisia in the poetry of the Silver Age", presented in written form, contained a comparison of Tunisian and Russian traditions of mutual perception. The authors of the Tunisian chronicles of the 18th and mid-19th centuries, who were the first to mention Russia (Wazir al-Saraj, Ahmed ben Diafa), adhered to the "typical view of a zealous Muslim" on the Russo-Turkish wars and the role of Russia in them. However, the Tunisian educator and reformer Hayraddin Pasha has already provided fairly accurate and extensive information about the internal situation of Russia. But both he and the chronicler of the second half of the XIX century. Muhammad Bayram al-Khamis assessed the system of Russia as "absolute despotism". The negative attitude of the common people towards Russia was revealed during the Russo-Japanese war. In the Russian tradition, early and detailed information about Tunisia appeared at the end of the XVIII century (M. G. Kokovtsov). A revival of interest in Tunisia was observed in Russian journalism in the 1880s and was characterized by a sympathetic attitude towards this victim of French expansion. In Russian literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a tendency towards a romantic perception of Tunisia (Andrey Bely).

A. V. Sarabyev's report "A. E. Crimean and Arab East: Heart perception and unbiased scientific analysis" contained an original attempt to reconstruct the evolution of the scientist's scientific ideas about the peculiarities of Arab culture. He examined the process of reconstructing the Arab ethnic image in the minds of scientists through contacts with Lebanese educated and popular circles. The speaker drew attention to how on the path of cognition

A. E. Krymsky overcame the stereotypes of ideas about Arabs and Arab culture that were established in science. (We should add that the result of Krymsky's efforts was the unique "History of New Arabic Literature" in terms of the degree of penetration into the essence of the subject. - I. S., N. R.)

D. Yu. Arapov (MSU) presented his report "The Caliphate factor in Russian politics in the Muslim East at the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XX century", which was devoted to three historical and political episodes of Russian foreign policy related to the problem of the caliphate.

One of them related to the recognition by Russia, the first of the great powers, under the terms of the Kuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace of 1774, of the claims of the Ottoman sultans to the post of caliph-the spiritual leader of all Sunni Muslims, and the formal cancellation of this article of the treaty in 1783. The second episode is connected with the weakening of the significance of the sultans ' power after the Young Turk Revolution and with British plans to revive The Arab Caliphate. The Russian political elite was ready to resist the British plans. Finally, in the early 1920s, contrary to official criticism of the ideas of pan-Islamism and the institution of the caliphate, the Comintern, according to the speaker, tried to "seize the institution of the caliphate" into its own hands, which was connected with the invitation of Enver Pasha to Russia. After the failure of this operation, the leaders of the Comintern and the Soviet government, according to D. Yu. Arapov, " met with noticeable satisfaction the abolition of the caliphate institute by Kemal Ataturk in 1924."

Although D. Arapov's report did not seem to be directly related to the topic of the conference, however, it seems that it raised the issue of the use of Islamic solidarity and the image of Islam by various political forces in the political game, which is fraught with increasing religious confrontation.

In his report "Russia and Egypt: Dynamics of mutual Perception (XIX-XX centuries)", A. Z. Egorin (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) noted the relevance of the topic discussed at the conference for the modern world and the continuing need to change some stereotypes of mutual perception. According to the speaker, modern experience shows that the formation of an adequate image is influenced not so much by the policy of the ruling circles, but by cultural interaction. The speaker turned to the historical experience of Russian and Egyptian mutual communication. He noted the contribution of great Russian writers to the formation of a friendly attitude towards the carriers of Islamic culture in Russia, the role of the broad consular service that existed in Russia before 1917, and such cultural and economic institutions as the IPPO and the Russian Shipping and Trade Society in cultural exchange. In conclusion, A. Z. Yegorin reported on some modern joint Russian-Egyptian cultural projects.

A. N. Khokhlov's report " The image of Russia in Palestine and Syria during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 (fundraising for Russian soldiers in the Far East)", based on the materials of the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, shows that at least the Orthodox population of Mashrik it was sympathetic to the Russian victims in the war. First of all, this feeling was shared by students of IPPO schools, among whom a movement was launched to collect money and material resources in favor of the victims.

The session ended on October 13 with a speech by Trabelsi Haifa, a graduate student of the Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Tunisian researcher, entitled "Socio-linguistic portrait of Russians in Tunisia". She focused her attention on sociological and linguistic surveys in Tunisia, which allow creating an image of the Russian diaspora, formed from immigrants from the USSR and Russia, for whom the Russian language is their native language. This diaspora consists mainly of young, able-bodied women who previously lived in large, mainly Russian, cities where Arab students studied. More than 90% of them have higher and secondary education, teachers, engineers, and doctors predominate. Most contribute to Tunisian cultural and industrial life, have an average of three children, and do not start new families. They are tolerant of the influence of local languages on the Russian language, and are willing to accept elements of local nonverbal speech.

When discussing the report of Trabelsi Haifa, it was noted that for the sake of completeness, the report lacks Tunisians ' assessment of these features of Russian women.

During the discussion of the reports, the idea was expressed about the conventionality of the concept of the image of an Arab or a Russian. Rather, we can talk about trends in the formation of such an image, which also occurred in different ways in different circles of society.

The second day of the conference was devoted to analyzing the paradigms of mutual perception of the Arab world and Russia in the modern context. The meeting was opened by V. V. Naumkin, Co-chair of the conference and Head of the Center for Arab Studies of the Institute of Islamic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He stressed that today the problem of mutual perception of representatives of different cultures is of particular importance. The survival of the world community depends on the ability to understand and accept Others, on the degree of our tolerance.-

companies. All cultures and civilizations have been subject to such strong mixing and mutual influence that it is an obvious fiction to speak of their irreconcilable isolation. Inter-civilizational dialogue is the only possible strategy for the survival of the world community in the era of globalization. Understanding the specific identity of its participants and their inherent cultural otherness is the most important goal of such a dialogue. In this regard, V. V. Naumkin noted that the stated topic is extremely interesting and relevant, which was shown by the conference participants in their reports and discussions.

In his report "Socio-political development of the Arab world and Russia at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries", B. V. Dolgov noted that in recent years, the evolution of the socio-political sphere of the Arab world naturally influenced the relations and mutual perception of Arab-Muslim countries and Russia, where during this period there were also cardinal changes in the state and political relations of thepolitical system, ideology, and public consciousness. According to the author, the problem of mutual perception of the countries of the Arab East and Russia can be viewed from two perspectives - political and socio-cultural. In political terms, the position of Arab countries trying to become regional " centers of power "and the position of Russia, which hopes to regain its position as one of the world's" centers of power", are quite close. We can talk about the beginning of the process of a certain rapprochement and perception of each other as partners for balancing other "centers of power".

Analyzing the problem, the author stated that in socio-cultural terms, our perception is more complex due to the heterogeneity of Russian society. Some of them perceive the Arab-Muslim world as civilizationally alien, although there are segments of Russian society that are not only Muslim, who see the Arab countries as natural allies. According to the author, democratization seems to be the main path of further socio-political evolution of the Arab East countries. Muslim societies will have to find their own form of democratic organization that is most acceptable and consistent with historical traditions. Here, the qualitative and social composition of a particular society is extremely important, as well as the presence of a "critical mass" of citizens with a sufficient level of education, material prosperity, and political and democratic culture. And this applies not only to Muslim countries. Ultimately, the rather complex global process of intercivilizational interaction also affects the mutual perception of Russia and the Arab world.

The topic started by B. V. Dolgov was continued by A. B. Podtserob (IB RAS) in the report " Russia in the view of the Arabs. Political aspects". The author noted that in the Middle East and Maghreb, Russia is assigned the role of a force that gives a more balanced character to the relations of great powers in the regional arena and acts to some extent as a counterweight to the United States. Moscow's efforts to promote the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, its position on Iraq, its rejection of the policy of "double standards", and its desire to assign the UN a central role in international relations are positively perceived in the region. The Arabs positively welcomed our resumption of military-technical cooperation, in particular with Syria and Algeria, and the expansion of trade and economic ties with the countries of the region. At the same time, Professor M. al-Tawfiq conducted a survey of 2 thousand students of Rabat University in 1991-2003. Muhammad V showed that 48% of them associated the modern Russian Federation with poverty, crime and alcoholism, although 52% believed that it remains a great power, and 53% said that they value literature, theater, and art in Russia as a whole. At the same time, the Arabs believe that we are close to them in terms of national character, perception of life, and reaction to events.

V. M. Akhmedov (Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a report " The army in ethno-religious conflicts in the Middle East. Political imperatives of the evolution of the image of a "secular national-oriented officer". Although not directly related to the topic of the conference, the report in which the author examined the current situation of the army in the Middle East aroused great interest and numerous questions from the audience. Most scientists come to the conclusion that military training, training, and a sense of collectivism contribute to the gradual formation of a national, secular worldview among officers. According to the author, the successful actions of the military in resolving ethno-religious conflicts are largely determined by the mobilization model of the socio-political structure, or the type of ruling regime in the form of a military-civil coalition, or the confessional homogeneity of the population, a favorable balance of regional forces and the absence of direct external interference. Today, V. M. Akhmedov noted, under the influence of-

As reforms and the process of political modernization continue, both the degree of involvement of the army in politics and the amount of power held by the military are changing.

Bibikova O. P. (IB RAS) in the report " The Middle East and Russia: cross-cultural process of the post-war period " noted that the post-war period was crucial for the formation of Arab-Russian relations. As the main features that bring our peoples closer together, she singled out the collectivist type of national character, multi-confessional character, a common view of the development of the international situation and the obvious desire to preserve identity in the era of globalization. It is in these special properties that the speaker sees the prerequisites for mutual understanding between our peoples in the XXI century. As the main factors that had a key influence on the formation of a positive perception of Russians in Syria and Lebanon in the XX century, the author highlighted, first of all, the victory of the Soviet Union in World War II, the position of the USSR during the triple aggression (1956), economic assistance and assistance in economic recovery, support for left-wing parties and organizations in Arab countries, in the training of qualified specialists, cultural influence (the activities of SSOD and other institutions, familiarity with our literature and cinema), as well as personal contacts (including mixed marriages). The author, having worked for a long time at the Soviet Cultural Center in Beirut, stressed the importance for Arab countries of personal contacts with Russia, which can help to mobilize mechanisms of socio-psychological protection, in the context of globalization, which is considered as a necessary means of preserving their own culture and identity.

At the conference, the theses of the report were read out by others. Zhantieva "Transformation of the image of Russia in the Arab media (90-ies of XX-early XXI century)". The author noted that the recent weakening of political and economic ties between Russia and the Arab world has had a very negative impact on the interpretation of the image of Russia in the Arab media. This was facilitated by the curtailment of the network of Russian correspondent posts abroad, and the absence of Arab media outlets in Russia. Gradually, the stabilization of the domestic political and economic situation in Russia and the intensification of Russian diplomatic efforts began to create a new information background for the Arab press and TV. Reports about Russia's success are increasingly appearing on leading Arab TV channels (Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya), which have opened permanent offices in our country. The newly created Russian satellite TV channel Rusia al-Yaum (Russia Today) is also of great importance.

R. G. Landa (IB RAS) in the report " The transition period of the 1990s in Algeria and Russia: similarities and differences " reminded the conference participants of the main dates in the history of Russian-Algerian relations, focusing in detail on mutual stereotypes of that time. Soviet Russia became an ally for the Algerians in the anti-colonial struggle. The victory over fascism has further increased the interest and respect for us on the part of Algerians. After 1954 (the date of Algeria's independence), our ties became even closer. A huge number of Soviet specialists worked in Algeria. The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the passivity of the USSR during the Gulf War-along with objective economic difficulties in both countries-led to a mutual cooling and curtailment of relations. In early 2008, the author was present in Algeria at an international colloquium devoted to the problems of the transition period of the 1990s in Algeria and Russia, where it was noted that in both countries he has many similar features (the role of the state, the party, the army, central planning in the economy, etc.), and "at the head of the state is the main It is necessary to put the historical synchronicity of this process first." Speaking about the differences, the Algerian participants named the main ones " cultural models, among which the first place was taken by religious values-Islam, Ramadan, pilgrimage, Muslim holidays." According to the author, what he saw proved that Algeria is more open to scientific and cultural dialogue than ever, is not so far away from us, and still keeps a grateful memory of our friendship and joint achievements. Without idealizing the situation, we can say that we have excellent prospects for reviving all-round cooperation on new foundations and for deepening mutual understanding between us.

E. S. Melkumyan (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) reviewed relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the use of Islamic issues in the political discourse of both countries. She noted that despite the fact that diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored in 1990, there was no solid basis for developing mutual contacts both in Soviet times and in the first years of the Russian state's life. Russia was dissatisfied with the actions of the Saudi Kingdom, which pursued an active policy of restoring ties with the Muslim population of our country. The war in Chechnya has further strained relations between the two countries.

As a result, the main criterion for forming the image of the Other - the image of Russia, the image of Saudi Arabia-was primarily the attitude to Islam. Changes in relations between the two countries began in 2000, when Vladimir Putin made remarks about the leading role of Saudi Arabia in the Arab-Muslim world. In response, Saudi Arabia expressed its satisfaction with the fact that Russia has joined the Organization of the Islamic Conference as an observer. According to the speaker, both Russia and Saudi Arabia used Islamic issues both to create a negative image and to stimulate mutual relations.

After listening to the reports, a discussion was launched, which once again proved the importance of studying the dynamics of the process of mutual perception of the Arab world and Russia.

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