Many scientists and politicians from various countries consider the Asia-Pacific region to be a possible economic and political center of the world in the 21st century. This assumption is generally based on several arguments: 1) the rapid socio-economic development of the region's member countries; 2) the presence of powerful economic powers in the region , such as the United States and Japan; 3) the growing economic and political "weight" of a country such as China; 4) the rapid increase in the Asia-Pacific region's share in world trade; 5) economic and political involvement in the region of countries such as Australia and New Zealand. We deliberately do not mention Russia here yet, because its institutional advancement in this region (participation in international organizations) is still poorly supported economically and culturally, and its political influence is very limited.
Without going into detailed disputes about the economic boundaries of the Asia-Pacific Region and Russia's Northeast Asia, we will make some meaningful comments about the concepts and geographical images of these interconnected regions [Zamyatin, 1999(2); 2000(1); 2001(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)].
Undoubtedly, the cognitive center of the Asia-Pacific region, that is, the center that ensures maximum perception and acceptance of this region as a serious reality, is shifted towards Asia, and Southeast Asia, the so-called South Sea countries, which is due both historically and culturally. Ancient civilizations of the region developed on the territory of Southern China, Indochina, and modern Indonesia [Istoriya..., 1989; Fitzgerald, 1998]. For several millennia, the Pacific Ocean has served as a barrier rather than a link in establishing trade and cultural contacts between the countries of the region. Therefore, when we talk about the importance of the Pacific Ocean as a component of the geographical image of the Asia-Pacific region, we are forced to speak more about the coastal seas of East and South-Ea ...
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