by Elena F. Pisareva (Wheaton: Quest Books, 2008, 113pp.)
The thirty years prior to the 1917 Russian Revolution were years filled with the discovery of Asian religious thought and practice including its more Westernized forms. In the 1870s, the Russian Tsarist empire started moving east to absorb what is today’s Central Asia. The Crimean War prevented Russia from moving toward the west, and British expansion in India made the Russians fearful of British control of Afghanistan and Central Asia. Russian troops started moving into Central Asia — the decisive battle of Tashkent was 1865. Along with troops, the Russian government sent scholars to study the way of life, and they started to write about Islam, the Sufi dervish movements, the Tibetan forms of Buddhism found in Mongolia and among other Central Asian peoples.
Along with government-sponsored scholars, there were independent individuals who went to Central Asia on a personal spiritual journey such as G.I. Gurdjieff. The reports of these finding created an interest in Asian thought among the educated elite.
At the same period, from the mid 1860s to the eve of the Revolution, wealthy Russians would spend the winter in Western Europe and sent their children to elite schools in Switzerland, Germany and France. read more »
When international development efforts began in the late 1940s sparked by President Truman’s “Point Four” program of technical assistance, the general image of the world’s poor were the villages of India, China, Africa, and Latin America. Many development activities were linked to increased rice and wheat crops. Irrigation and better water use were issues high on the development agenda. Awareness of the growth of cities has been slow.
Running
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