Vasily Andreevich Fedorov was born in the village of Galitsa, Novgorod region, in the family of a worker. Soon the family moved to Leningrad, where he had to endure all the hardships of the blockade years. As a teenager, he lost his parents. A new period in his life began in 1946 with service in the army, and then - studying at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which he successfully graduated in 1956. Professional activity of Vasily Andreevich consists of two periods. His excellent knowledge of English allowed him to work as a translator in the office of the Air Force Attache in the United Kingdom, and then as a military attache in Burma, Egypt, Laos and Iraq. The complexity and effectiveness of his work is evidenced by the Order of the Red Banner and a number of other awards he received in peacetime. Being in various countries of the East, Vasily Andreevich aspired to their in-depth study, which created a fundamental basis for his subsequent scientific work. The second stage of his activity began after retiring for health reasons in the rank of colonel.

Having joined the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1974, he soon defended his dissertation and received the title of Candidate of Historical Sciences. A senior researcher in the Department of Comparative and Theoretical Studies, he focused his research work on the problems of political life in the liberated states of the East. He focused on studying the patterns of authoritarian regimes and the role of the army in a number of countries, starting with Pakistan and ending with Thailand. For an objective and in-depth analysis, he had to track the evolution of political structures, as well as such phenomena as left-wing extremism, nationalism, and a number of others.

V. A. Fedorov was a deep researcher. All his works - books, articles, speeches at international forums and institute conferences-bore the imprint of academic culture combined with a comprehensive knowledge of the subject. This has contributed to more

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an accurate and in-depth understanding of complex and ambiguous socio-political processes in developing countries, as well as the establishment of such a concept as "authoritarianism of development"in scientific usage. A significant contribution of V. A. Fedorov to the study of authoritarian society was the substantiation of the significance of the "mobilization" model of development, in which the army, acting in the interests of social efficiency, at a certain stage replaces the institutions of public administration and civil society. Time allowed him to trace how later the military, under the pressure of various factors, gradually weakened direct intervention in the economic life of their countries as the national economy and statehood strengthened. These and a number of other conclusions of V. A. Fedorov remain important not only for the countries of the East, but also for the states that, due to the prevailing circumstances, have found themselves on the periphery of world economic development.

Vasily Andreevich was a wonderful person, always ready to share his knowledge with colleagues, and helped to develop young scientists, including those from other countries. Successfully combining theoretical training with practical experience, he made an important contribution to the sociology and political science of the modern East, to determining the place of the military and civilian elite in the governance systems of Asian states. Calm, reasonable, friendly, always open to business discussion of the most difficult issues, Vasily Andreevich was a great patriot and took everything that was happening in Russia very close to his heart. We will always remember him, as well as what he did for science, for the country and for people.

colleagues

MAIN SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF V. A. FEDOROV*

Army and Political Struggle in Thailand / / Vostok i sovremennost', Moscow, 1979, N 4 (8), pp. 108-120.

Evolyutsiya sotsial'no-politicheskoi roli armii v Thailde (1973 - 1978) [Evolution of the socio - political role of the army in Thailand (1973-1978)]. Yugo-Vostochnaya Aziya v 70 - e gody (Socio-political and ideological problems), Moscow, 1979, pp. 105-124.

Armed Forces / / Laos, Moscow, 1980, pp. 130-137.

Army and authoritarian regimes in the East / / Asia and Africa Today. 1981. N 3. pp. 19-21.

Army and Political regime in Thailand (1945-1980). Moscow: Nauka, 1982. 152 p.

Structural shifts in the economy and the evolution of political systems in the countries of Asia and Africa in the 70s. Moscow, 1982. - Author's article: Evolution of the military-dictatorial regime in Thailand. pp. 112-116; Political role of the army in developing countries with authoritarian regimes. pp. 118-128.

Military policy of the Government of Thailand in connection with the "Kampuchea problem" / / Foreign East and Modernity. Moscow, 1983. N 3. p. 3-16.

"Left-wing" extremism in the political life of Eastern countries // Asia and Africa today. 1983. N5. pp. 13-16.

"Leftist" extremism and its negative impact on the revolutionary process in the countries of the East // Parties and the revolutionary process in the countries of Asia and Africa, Moscow, 1983, pp. 84-101.

Army in the conditions of bourgeois-authoritarian rule / / Asia and Africa Today. 1984. N 9. pp. 9-12.

"Evolution" of political structures in developing Asian countries / / Peoples of Asia and Africa. 1984. N 4. pp. 118-122.

Army and national relations in the countries of South and Southeast Asia / / National question in the liberated countries of the East, Moscow, 1987, pp. 246-261.

Evolution of authoritarian regimes / / Asia and Africa today. 1990. N 4. pp. 7-10.

Review of the book: Mazurov V. M. From authoritarianism to democracy (practice of South Korea and the Philippines). 1966. 199 p. / / Probl. The Far East. 1998. N 2. pp. 148-152.

Army and Modernization in the countries of the East, Moscow: IV RAS, 1999, 173 p.

Scenarios are different, the goal is the same: successes and failures of counterinsurgency struggle in the countries of South-East Asia / / Asia and Africa Today. 2001. N 9. pp. 16-20

* Compiled by S. D. Miliband.

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