Alireza Salehi-Nejad

The dissemination of information in times of crisis or emergency is distinctive since the affected individuals may take, process, and act on information differently. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted “the right message at the right time from the right person can save lives.” This study elaborates on the principles of crisis and emergency risk communication (CERC) in the realistic narrative, and notes that a successful CERC should be prompt, accurate, veracious, empathetic, respectful, and promote meaningful action. Since pandemics are not only biomedical but also social, political, economic, and cultural incidents, critical communication in the time of a pandemic is of crucial significance. Hence, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is assessed as a recent and important case study. This pandemic had four chief challenges; including that since the disease is caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus the assumptions about the disease have been revised numerously and rapidly. In addition, the cumulative scale and scope of COVID-19 which is in excess of 627 million confirmed cases, and approximately 6.58 million deaths worldwide remained a strain. Another concern was the overwhelming uncertainty and evolving trajectory of the pandemic about how and when it ends or enters the endemic stage of the outbreak. Finally, the overabundance of amplification and dissemination of both accurate and inaccurate information led to an infodemic. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals used the internet as an important resource for seeking health-related information. However, the infodemic and the other aforementioned challenges made distinguishing up-to-date accurate information a more arduous task, and CERC and pandemic-related communication are even more crucial. Hence, a multi-dimensional set of skills is required to overcome these challenges whether amidst or after the pandemic. Therefore, a multi-stakeholder approach towards an overarching and comprehensive metaliteracy that “provides an integrated and inclusive framework to cultivate critical thinking and proficiency in comprehending data, information, visuals and the media” is essential. This study recommends and elaborates on how to incorporate metaliteracy into crisis and risk communication at governmental, organizational, and individual levels.

Mao Zedong had developed the Three Worlds Theory; however, after the dissolution of Soviet Union, Third World has been used interchangeably with least developed countries and somehow conveys poverty. Nevertheless, the term Third World has also been used to describe some rich countries with very high Gross Domestic Product or even high Human Development Index; therefore, poverty is not always economical, and roots within society. The nature of society is rooted in culture, which is set of ideas, norms, and values; and structure, which is the fundamental organization of society into its institutions, groups, statuses, and roles. While evaluating the difference between “real culture” and “ideal culture”, lead us to understand that cultural values are not always consistent, even within the same society. Global poverty dates back to centuries of plunder and confiscation of land and riches from the indigenous people under the flag of colonialism and exploitation. Over years, exploitation has led the current economic system being funded by the poor through theft of land and natural resources, unfair debt settlement, and unjust taxes on labor and consumption. Social inequality – in sense of distribution of material possessions, money, power, prestige, relationship – whether within societies or among them is a topic at the heart of sociology. The theory of a “Culture of Poverty” describes the combination of factors that perpetuate patterns of inequality and poverty in society. This theory states that living in conditions of prevalent poverty leads to the development of a culture or subculture adapted to those conditions, and characterized by prevalent feelings of vulnerability, dependency, marginality, and feebleness. The myth of the Culture of Poverty, intensifying Cultural Poverty, Cycle of poverty or development trap, insufficiency of materialist information society, necessity of knowledge society, and other key factors in crafting the third world are discussed in this book. “The Third World; Country or People” takes a systematic approach to the analysis of human lives and interactions and evaluates various fields including anthropology, economics, political science, ethnic studies, area studies, gender studies, cultural studies.

© 2013,. All rights reserved. The military intervention in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks of al-Qa‘eda terrorists provided an opportunity for U.S. politicians to materialize their longawaited dream of the monopolar world predicted by scholars like Fukuyama after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the bipolar world. Fukuyama, among others, believed that American liberal thought would be universally accepted and this would eventually lead to U.S. global domination. The attitude of al-Qa‘eda and the Taliban, on the one hand, and Afghanistan’s strategic position, on the other, were not what U.S. officials needed for this purpose. However, Afghanistan could be used as an instrument to put pressure on Russia, Iran, China, and India. The Taliban’s deplorable abuse of basic human rights, women, and narcotic drugs, etc. could justify the U.S.’s presence as a defender of human rights. Although Afghanistan was invaded in 2001, and despite primary victories, the war is still going on more than 13 years later, and intervention is still continuing despite the change in U.S. administration. As a consequence of this occupation, the new geopolitics of this region are emerging with the presence of NATO forces, the continuing war, the incompletely suppressed Taliban forces, and the increase in insecurity for Iran and Pakistan. While at the same time, the Afghan mujahidin forces are being replaced by technocrats.

The phenomena of terrorism and other politically motivated violence have been assessed across different disciplines from political science and economics to theology and psychology. Whereas the definitions of the concepts of “terrorism” and “terrorist” are disputed and they rather reflect the perspectives of the defining entity, there is a common consensus that terrorism can be classified in terms of its type (such as state-sponsored, dissent, religious, pathological, narco-, cyber-, and bioterrorism), the scale (i.e. domestic vs. international), motives, and objectives. By the same token, the roots and causes of terrorism can be enumerated as internal sources (such as social, economic, political, and cultural indicators) and external sources (such as colonialism and neocolonialism, regional conflicts and historical enmities, failed/failing states and lawless areas, and the penetration of foreign cultures and lifestyles). Although such grounds can be considered as the collective causes, they can merely address how one becomes a potential appropriate recruit for terrorist organizations. Hence, identifying the causes of terrorism is of paramount significance in order to both combat and most importantly prevent terrorism. Given that the first generation of psychological approaches to terrorist violence, chiefly drawing from psychoanalytic theory, has basically run its course, this study takes a systematic approach to evaluate the root causes of terrorism, particularly from social and behavioral perspectives, and attempts to address some key questions such as the progress of and reasons for individuals supporting, joining and leaving terrorist organizations, the relevance of psychopathology to comprehending and preventing terrorism, and the roles of ideology, identity, and belonging in terrorist behavior.

From the animosity of the Cold War era, the rapprochement in 1972, normalization of relations in 1979, to rising China and the current trade war, the US-China relationship has emerged and been regarded as an important relationship in global politics, and distinctively significant in the shaping of world order. The United States, a fount of modern think tanks, is home to approximately 30% of the total in the world. These think tanks were gradually embedded into American politics and exercise undoubtedly significant influence in the policymaking process, particularly foreign affairs. Hence, as an emerging global power, China has been the subject of US think tanks debate from different perspectives, such as economy, military, and foreign affairs. This study reviews the post-World War II US-China relations, addresses China’s economic and military rise, its territorial claims and provides policy options for balancing cooperation and conflict in each of these matters. Given that the assimilation of perspectives of American think tanks can foster comprehending the perception of the US regarding China’s rise and Washington-Beijing relations, this internet-mediated research based on foreign policy analysis with the principal focus on agency at institutional level takes a systematic approach to discuss China policy debates among the US think tanks. The objective is to offer an overall review of the China policy debate in the US over the past two decades, whereas the chief focus is dedicated to the perceptions of China in American think tanks about the concepts of “China collapse”, “China threat” and “China responsibilities”; furthermore, providing an assessment of the impact of think tanks on China’s most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment, the legislature on permanent normal trade relations (PNTR), and contemporary trade relations between the two countries.

Owing to the escalating regional rivalries and the conventional arms race, Iran’s post-revolutionary hostilities towards the West, in addition to the crucial geopolitical and economic significance of the region, the complex Iranian nuclear crisis has made the global leaders to brood over the multilateral Iranian negotiations with the P5+1 and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which led to finalization and adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. The United Kingdom as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a nuclear state, the bridge to the Cross-Atlantic relations, in addition to its noted ‘special relationship’ with the United States, and having over two centuries of political ties with Iran has constantly played a crucial role in all stages of the negotiations and tightening the imposed embargoes. Indeed, ever since the 1979 Revolution the Anglo-Iranian relations have been volatile and have suffered from tension, instability, and upheavals; despite reconciliation in 1998 and some prominent diplomatic accomplishments in nuclear negotiations the sour relations had strained by several incidents in the past two decades. This study addresses the Anglo-Iranian relations and attempts to provide theoretical scrutiny of the UK foreign policy on the Iranian nuclear program and clarify the British approach through the lens of game theories with respect to neorealism, classical realism, neoclassical realism, and liberalism perspectives.

پژوهشگران پدیده تروریسم را از مواضع مختلفی ازجمله سیاسی، اقتصادی، روانشناختی، اجتماعی، فرهنگی و دینی مورد مطالعه قرار دادهاند. علیرغم وجود تعاریف متعدد و غیرواحدی از مفهوم تروریسم و تروریست بیان شده است که به طور کلی بیانگر دیدگاه ارائه دهنده آن است، اجماعی بر دسته بندی تروریسم یراساس نوع (مانند دولتی، مذهبی، پاتولوژیک، سایبری، نارکوتروریسم و بیوتروریسم)، مقیاس (داخلی و بین المللی)، انگیزه ها و اهداف آن وجود دارد. همچنین، ریشه ها و علل تروریسم می تواند منشا داخلی (مانند شاخص های اجتماعی، اقتصادی، سیاسی و فرهنگی) و خارجی (مانند استعمار و پسااستعمار، درگیری های منطقه ای و دشمنی های تاریخی، دولت درمانده و مناطق بی قانون، و نفوذ فرهنگ و سبک زندگی بیگانه) داشته باشد. چنین زمینه هایی می توانند به عنوان علل اشتراکی در نظر گرفته شوند و صرفا بیانگر دلایل احتمالی تبدیل یک فرد به یک عضو بالقوه سازمانهای تروریستی است ولی بهندرت توضیحی درباره چگونگی جذب آن فرد به سازمان های تروریستی ارائه می کنند. از این رو، شناسایی علل ظهور تروریسم و عضویت افراد در سازمانهای تروریستی از اهمیت ویژهای به منظور مبارزه و جلوگیری از آن برخوردار است. با توجه به اینکه نسل اول رویکردهای روانشناختی به خشونت تروریستی اساسا از تئوری روانکاوی نشئت می گرفتند و دیگر توجیه کننده تروریسم مدرن نیستند، این پژوهش با رویکردی سیستماتیک مبنی بر روش پدیدارشناسی به ارزیابی دلایل اصلی تروریسم بهویژه از منظر اجتماعی و رفتاری می پردازد. هدف این پژوهش مطرح کردن و پاسخ دادن به سوالات کلیدی شامل دلایل افراد برای حمایت، عضویت، و ترک سازمان های تروریستی، مناسب بودن علم آسیب شناسی روانی برای درک و جلوگیری از تروریسم، و نقش ایدئولوژی، هویت و تعلق در رفتار تروریستی است

Digitalization and the emergence of the Internet have resulted in escalating access to information and communication. Given the circumstances that soaring access to information amounts to the intensification of misinformation and disinformation, a set of critical skills to navigate and critically assess the information is necessary. This paper outlines the significance of these skills, and provides a perspective on metaliteracy as a supplement to media and information literacy, and argues that the ability to conceptualize, access, comprehend, analyze, and use information is crucial in achieving inclusive, pluralistic, and participatory knowledge societies.

The term gambling, which originated from the Middle English gamenen (“to play”), refers to taking part in the betting or staking of something of value, whether money or possessions, on the uncertain outcome of a game with the consciousness of risk and the hope of gain, all of which comes down to chance. Gambling stakes are based on a contingency of game results that are determined by chance or accident and sometimes by a combination of strategy and chance; whereas knowledge of the game is beneficial for playing poker, it is of trivial value in lottery, bingo, and slot machines. Whereas generally the connotation of the terms gamble and gambling may run afoul of criminal laws, the term gaming—with the exception of the U.K. Gambling ...

This book reviews my recent studies conducted on computer networks with a systematic approach. The research discussions include studies of field of view, introduction to technology, spin-off network, development and evaluation of technology, network topology, and wireless networks. The purpose of this book is to draw a concrete perspective of applicable designs in networking industry and alternative approaches. Hence principles and techniques of applied designs of a home network and an organization including necessary network designs, programming languages, transmission medium, and essential hardware and software are debated.

his book consists of two analytic papers. The first chapter of this book entitled “System Analysis, Design and Construction” reviews studies conducted on information system. As a case study it evaluates a system for schools and departments which assesses students through a number of assessment components. It demonstrates a practical design in decision-making at the Pass/Fail boundary, the mathematical fundamentals in the application of these policies and inherent in marks. It also proposes processes involved in error-estimation by the raters. The second chapter of the book entitled “Easy Reading Online Bookstore System” discusses development of an online bookstore, which includes various necessary components including shopping mechanism, purchasing statistics, and management tools. The paper concentrates on the design of the data base and its integration with the implemented system.

In “Philosophical Investigations”, published in 1958, Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian born Cambridge scholar, expressed his thoughts concerning language. Wittgenstein proposed the idea that philosophy aims to clear up the conceptual confusions that caused by untested use of language. The concept of language-games points at the rule-governed character of language. However, language games do not demand strict and definite systems of rules for every language game, but point to the conventional nature of this type of human activity. Wittgenstein’s hypothesis found its way beyond philosophy. Close observation of the nature of arts and politics resembles that of the nature of games. This book provides a critical analysis of the concept of language game and its prominence in contemporary social science and arts, with privilege of Wittgenstein’s general reflections on philosophy and linguistics.