This study examines the conflicting consequences of Afghanistan's membership in SAARC. The main research question is what opportunities Afghanistan's membership in SAARC has provided for the country's political, economic, and cultural development during the years 2007-2021 and what challenges it has created. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the theory of liberal institutionalism, and the research method is descriptive-analytical, relying on documentary data and structural analysis of regional relations. The findings show that Afghanistan's membership in SAARC has, on the one hand, promoted regional legitimacy, expanded multilateral diplomacy, and increased cultural and educational cooperation. On the other hand, geopolitical competition between India and Pakistan, the development gap between members, and the weakness of Afghanistan's internal economic structure have prevented the realization of sustainable development. In the economic sphere, convergence has been formed asymmetrically, and Afghanistan has become a regional consumer market rather than benefiting from export benefits. On the other hand, cultural and educational cooperation is considered one of the most sustainable achievements of membership. The study concludes that Afghanistan’s membership in SAARC has a dual and conflicting nature and that the realization of its interests depends on domestic capacity, political stability, and intelligent management of regional relations.

This study investigates the impact of urbanization on economic growth in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the 2002–2017 period with a dynamic panel data analysis method using the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) approach. The results indicate that urbanization exerts a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth. In contrast, overall population growth demonstrates a negative and significant association with economic performance. Furthermore, employment growth and gross capital formation are found to positively and significantly contribute to economic growth in both countries.

This study aims to develop an Augmented Reality-Based Virtual Reality Laboratory on Chemical Equilibrium Material to Increase Science Process Skills. The research method used is Research and Development (R&D) using the Four-D Model (4D Model). The subjects in this study were 11th-grade students at a high school in Yogyakarta. The results of this research and development are an Augmented Reality-based virtual laboratory presented in the form of an APK file that can represent 3D. The Augmented Reality-based virtual laboratory developed has also been deemed feasible by subject matter and media experts, teachers, and students in terms of its readability. The results of the trial showed that the augmented reality-based virtual laboratory can improve science process skills by 0.35, which is classified as moderate. This shows that the augmented reality-based virtual laboratory is effective in improving students' science process skills.

Criminalization in all human societies is regarded as one of the necessary tools in the hands of governments to confront anti-social behaviors. To prevent governments from attacking individuals' freedoms and human rights under the pretext of criminalization, legal experts have proposed several criteria for criminalization. These criteria are known as the “principles of criminalization.” One of the principles of criminalization is legal paternalism, under which the criterion for criminalization is the discretion of the authorities. According to this criterion, criminalization can pose a serious threat to human rights, particularly to individual freedoms, equality, and human dignity. This research seeks to, through an analytical-descriptive approach, define and explain criminalization in light of the principle of legal paternalism, while also addressing the risks and challenges this type of criminalization poses to citizens' human rights and demonstrating how criminalization based on “legal paternalism” can threaten citizens' human rights. At the same time, this research proposes solutions for moderating criminalization in the context of legal patriarchy.The research findings indicate that criminalization within the framework of legal patriarchy, if applied indefinitely and unconditionally, can jeopardize many of citizens' human rights, including, freedom, equality, and human dignity, and their right to grow and mature, are threatened; because under the principle of legal patriarchy, the government's hands are free to criminalize, and it can, under the pretext of “exercising its discretion,” engage in broad and unnecessary criminalization that leads to the violation of citizens' rights. Ultimately, to counter these dangers, it is recommended that governments criminalize only in specialized cases and with genuine, acceptable justifications, taking greater care to consider the will of the people and international considerations. Furthermore, criminalization should be avoided in public and social spheres where people are capable of sound judgment, so that while preserving the public interest, individual rights and civil liberties are protected.

The Timurid period, particularly during the reign of Shāhrukh Mirzā, was marked by a profound transformation in the understanding and exercise of power. In the historiography of the Timurid dynasty, Timur is commonly depicted as the founder of a militaristic and authoritarian form of rule, one that relied on continuous and often ruthless conquests to establish a conception of sovereignty grounded in coercion and personal authority. However, with the accession of Shāhrukh Mirzā to power, a more nuanced perception of the tension between physical and symbolic forms of power emerged, prompting a shift in the structure of governance from predominantly military models toward bureaucracy, institutionalization, and cultural rationality. The principal objective of this study is to demonstrate how, during the reign of Shāhrukh Mirzā, power evolved from a physical and person-centered phenomenon into a structured, rational, and institution-based system, and was subsequently redefined as a cultural and intellectual construct. Employing a descriptive–analytical methodology and drawing on library-based sources, court historiographies, administrative records, and the cultural and architectural productions of the period, this research offers a renewed examination of transformations in power within the Timurid political order. The findings indicate that under Shāhrukh Mirzā, the model of governance shifted from an emphasis on military dominance toward bureaucratic administration and the active participation of cultural and religious elites. Furthermore, the role of women—most notably exemplified by Gawhar Shād Begum—attained a level of managerial and political influence that can be understood as a reconfiguration, and indeed a reconstruction, of prevailing forms of governance. Ultimately, by foregrounding knowledge and culture, Shāhrukh Mirzā relocated power from the realm of coercion to that of thought, rendering it a rational, meaning-laden, and structured phenomenon.

This research begins with the highest values of the Toba Batak ethnic group in North Sumatera in Indonesia, which reflect the principle of family or kinship. A study of six hundred Toba Batak Umpasa (common sayings) reveals that they are deeply embedded in a cultural structure that emphasizes respect for one another. However, in reality, the Toba Batak people uphold the principle of Mardomu at tano rara, meaning there can be no peace until someone dies for not forgiving. This research aims to establish a dialogue between the mangalahat horbo tradition and the abrogation of the Torah in Ephesians 2:15 using grammatical and syntactic analysis. The results of the analysis will be synthesized using Stevan Bevans' approach. Thus, this paper concluded that the mangalahat horbo tradition and the abrogation of the Torah in Ephesians 2:15 not only restore damaged relationships but also result in a boundless reformation of relations among the Toba Batak ethnic group in North Sumatera, Indonesia.

The International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding (IJMMU) is an international, double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal covering the study of topics in the Social and Humanities,published by Global Institute for Multidisciplinary Knowledge and Responsible Future.

This study aims to develop and examine the effectiveness of a short movie role-play learning media based on the values of the Pancasila Student Profile for the Pancasila Education subject at the junior high school level. The development model used is ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). The research subjects consisted of two teachers and thirty students from SMP Negeri 1 Lalan, Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra. The validation results indicate a very high level of feasibility, with an average score of 4.48. The practicality test obtained a result of 97,37%, categorized as very practical, while the effectiveness test showed an improvement in learning outcomes from an average pretest score of 51.67 to a posttest score of 92.02, with an N-Gain value of 0.82 (high category). The findings demonstrate that the use of short movie role-play media can enhance conceptual understanding, emotional engagement, and the internalization of Pancasila Student Profile values. Through contextual learning experiences and visual narratives, students not only understand the material cognitively but also appreciate and practice moral values in real-life contexts. This media is considered relevant, engaging, and easy to implement, making it an innovative alternative for strengthening the implementation of the Pancasila Student Profile in schools, especially in environments with limited technological facilities