Regional Arrangements Research Articles

Treated Wastewater Reuse: An Efficient and Sustainable Solution for Water Resource Scarcity

Wastewater has become a valuable resource in many regions of the world that face increased level of freshwater scarcity. Reuse of treated wastewater has high economic benefit, but it can also lead to environmental pollution. As such, explicit conditions must be defined to determine the optimality of wastewater reuse for society. In this paper, we develop a regional multi-sectoral model of water quantity–quality interaction among the urban, agricultural, and environmental sectors. Our interest lies in the feasibility of reuse, rather than the stability of the regional arrangements, therefore we apply a social planner’s approach to this regional problem. We formally construct sufficient conditions that support the superiority of infrastructure development and conveyance of treated wastewater for irrigation, when measured against other common disposal alternatives. Using a numerical illustrative example, which relies on data and results from existing literature, we were able to replicate our theoretical findings, as well as to examine their robustness, when supporting assumptions are relaxed.

China in Central and Eastern Europe: the unintended effects of identity narratives

The Central and East European (CEE) part of the Eurasian landmass is often overlooked in the conversations on contemporary geopolitics. Yet, owing to China’s relations with the CEE countries, the region has been subject to growing strategic attention. This article offers a brief overview of the history of this relationship by focusing on the “17+1” mechanism. Nestled within the broader Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the “17+1” has provided a unique regional arrangement for extending Chinese influence in the sixteen CEE countries. The article inquires whether there is something else than the instrumental economic reasoning for the willingness of CEE countries to partner with China. The analysis detects three distinct strategic narratives motivating the participation of CEE states in the “17+1” mechanism. The study concludes with an enquiry on China’s preparedness to respond to such identity geopolitics not only in the CEE region, but throughout the vast expanse covered by the BRI initiative.

The path towards groundwater management in the borderlands of Mexico and Texas

AbstractBinational efforts to understand, assess, and manage shared groundwater resources on the Mexico‐Texas border are limited and politically sensitive. On the Mexico side, long‐standing centralized groundwater governance structures have created institutional barriers at the local level to the expansion of knowledge and cooperation over these transboundary resources. On the Texas side, property rights related to groundwater resources limit the scope of options available for cooperative management of cross‐border aquifers. In order to develop more effective cross‐border relations and enhance knowledge, cooperative management, and sustainability of the region's shared aquifers, stakeholders in the border between Mexico and Texas should pursue local and regional arrangements that focus primarily on water quality and environmental issues. Additionally, in order for the results of local efforts to be permanent and sustainable, they must consider the more formal, long‐term cooperative models that tend to have stronger systemic impacts and funding commitments. In addition, stakeholders and officials must make a better effort to educate the public on the science and facts in order to avoid past experiences where fear and political lobbying scuttled viable and promising cooperative efforts.This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Water Governance

Preparation of octenyl succinic anhydride‐modified cassava starch by the ultrasonic‐assisted method and its influence mechanism

As an effective physical method for starch modification, ultrasonic treatment can significantly improve the chemical activity and quality of starch, but its mechanism needs to be further investigated. In this paper, ultrasonic-modified cassava starch and octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA)-modified cassava starch with low degree of substitution were prepared under ultrasonic conditions. The effects of ultrasound on the structure and properties of native cassava starch and the quality of OSA-modified cassava starch were studied. The results showed that the crystallinity decreased from 30.7% to 26.4%, the reaction efficiency increased from 62.28% to 66.20%, and other characteristics also changed after 1 min of ultrasonic treatment. While the structure and properties of cassava starch changed differently after ultrasonic treatments for 8 min and 32–60 min. Consequently, these changes showed that ultrasonic treatment had a significant mechanochemical effect on starch granules. The quality of OSA-modified cassava starch was improved significantly and its influence mechanism was analyzed by the mechanochemistry theory. Practical applications During the esterification of starch, the dense arrangement of crystalline regions limits the reaction of esterifying agents with starch granules. This study showed that ultrasound exerted strong mechanical forces on starch granules, which promoted the production of free radicals and increased the free energy of starch molecules. Besides, the increase of mechanochemical active sites in starch granules was conducive to the homogeneous reaction of octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) and starch molecules. Therefore, the quality of OSA-modified cassava starch prepared by ultrasonic-assisted treatment was significantly improved. This study provides a reference for the application of ultrasonic technology in other fields and also lays a theoretical basis for the industrial development of high performance-modified starch.

Bypasses to the International Monetary Fund

ABSTRACTCountries hold international financial reserves as a precaution against large and unexpected deteriorations in their balance of payments position. Although the International Monetary Fund was explicitly created to provide liquidity to member countries for just such purposes, other institutional arrangements at the regional and bilateral level have endured or emerged to provide similar services. They fall into three categories—monetary unions; regional financial arrangements; and swap lines between central banks. All three groups of institutions exhibit the key features of international Institutional bypasses. Issues around the twin notions of possible risks and potential benefits to the existing international order, flagged in the framework paper for this symposium, play out fully in the international finance arena, with important implications for the nature and quality of global governance. A formal hierarchy among the IMF and the bypasses, and a seamless global liquidity net have yet to be created.

ANALISIS PENATAAN DAERAH DI PROVINSI JAWA BARAT

The research undertaken has the objective to analyze the wide area, demography and area coverage in order to provide policy recommendations related to the regulation of regency in West Java Province as mandated by UU 23 Tahun 2014 tentang Pemerintahan Daerah. This study used tailor made method which directs a comprehensive study results become a major consideration for policy makers in the formulation of policy. The results of the analysis show that only Bogor Regency has the most complete feasibility to be expanded into district and city compared to other districts in West Java. While Cianjur, Bekasi and Garut have the feasibility to form City.
 Keywords: regional arrangement, DOB formation

Charge Regions Indicated by LMA Lightning Flashes in Hokuriku's Winter Thunderstorms

AbstractThe charge distribution of some cells in three winter thunderstorms in the Hokuriku region of Japan is investigated based on Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) flash data. The vertical arrangements of charge regions involved in lightning discharges suggest diverse charge patterns, including quad‐polar, tripole, positive dipole, inverted dipole, and inverted tripole. The riming electrification between graupel and ice crystals or their aggregations are thought to be responsible for the electrification of most cells. The charging process between snow/aggregates and ice crystals may be responsible for some inverted charge structure that occurred above 0 °C isotherm and accompanied with weak radar echoes. Convection indicated by the vertical development of radar reflectivity appears crucial to shaping the diverse charge distribution patterns by determining which charging mechanisms occur and where; it also influences changes in height or even the disappearance of the charge regions. The charged cores are distributed from 0.7‐ to 5.3‐km heights and 2‐ to –31‐ °C temperatures, while the distances between adjacent charged cores with opposite polarities change between 0.2 and 3.4 km, with a mean of 1.3 km. The mean flash duration and horizontal distance are 425.0 ms and 19.8 km, respectively. The average height, temperature, and power of flash initiations are 2.8 km, −11.9 °C, and 15.6 dBW, respectively.

Tandem Repeats in the Genome of Sus scrofa, Their Localization on Chromosomes and in the Spermatogenic Cell Nuclei

Bioinformatics methods make it possible to find and annotate large tandem repeats (TR) in the genome assemblies of different organisms. In this study, the genomic assembly of Sus scrofa (pig) (Sscrofa10.2, in the NCBI database) was examined and a set of species-specific TR was identified. In addition, using FISH and the designed short oligonucleotide probes (Sscrf_335A, Sscrf_243A, Sscrf_15A, and Sscrf_50A), some of these TR were mapped to metaphase chromosomes. All TR present in the Repbase database for pig are detected using bioinformatics methods, and in addition to these, another 18 new TR families were found in the genome assembly Sscrofa10.2. Compared to human and mouse, the set of TR identified in the Sscrofa10.2 assembly is characterized by longer monomer length. The Sscrf_15A and Sscrf_243A probes identify a set of acrocentric (Ac) chromosomes, the Sscrf_50A probe identifies a set of sub/metacentric (Mc) chromosomes, and the Sscrf_335A probe labels all chromosomes. Probes were used to follow the centromeric region organization during spermatogenesis. In meiotic prophase I, all probes labeled ring structures, which were not described in the literature. In this study it was demonstrated that (1) the designed probes detected the Ms and Ac chromosome sets; (2) in spermatozoa, there was a specific pattern for each probe; and (3) centromeric probes probably provided an opportunity to follow the centromeric region arrangement.

Regional ocean governance: Polycentric arrangements and their role in global ocean governance

The importance of regional and subregional levels in global ocean governance is being increasingly recognised. Regional approaches are prominent in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The UN Environment Regional Seas Programme bodies focusing on pollution and biodiversity and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) regional fisheries bodies focusing on fisheries are the best known regional arrangements. However, there are other regional and subregional multilateral agreements that should be considered in building comprehensive regional ocean governance; in particular ‘indigenous’ agreements developed by the countries of the regions. This study examined 165 regional arrangements related to ecosystem-based management of oceans and allocated them into 20 regional clusters covering most of the world's oceans. The study explores the characteristics of these regional clusters which exhibit characteristics of polycentric systems. The suite of 20 regional clusters as well as global level oceans arrangements raises the question of whether there is an overall governance structure that should be pursued to strengthen ocean governance as envisaged in the Sustainable Development Goals and provide a holistic context for improving regional ocean governance. This study poses the question as to whether polycentric regional clusters can provide the ‘missing link’ for achieving global ocean governance objectives and whether these clusters are more than just the sum of their arrangements.

Effect of the fabrication process on the thermophysical properties of Ca(NO3)2–NaNO3/expanded graphite phase change material composites

Studying the influence of various fabrication steps on the thermophysical properties of the shape-stable phase change materials (SSPCMs) is pivotal to adjust the thermophysical properties of the PCM/expanded graphite (EG) SSPCMs. In light of this, three kinds of PCM samples involving different fabrication steps (impregnation, cold-compression and sintering) were fabricated and characterized, to investigate the effects of the different fabrication steps and molar ratios of the Ca(NO3)2–NaNO3 binary salts on the microstructure and some thermal properties of the SSPCMs. The results show that the cold-compression and sintering led to a quite compact arrangement of EG regions separated by salt particles, which constrained the Ca(NO3)2 crystal arrangement and orientation of nitrate molecular chains within the mesopores of EG. As a result, two overlapped or convoluted DSC peaks, instead of one peak, and a wider melting temperature range appeared during the melting process of the SSPCMs when the Ca(NO3)2 M ratio was no less than that of the eutectic binary salt. The cold-compression and sintering also caused evident increases of the melting temperature range, reductions of the phase change enthalpy by 21–23%, and significant increases of the thermal conductivities of the SSPCMs by over 2.5 times from 1.56 to 1.9 to 5.02–6.27 W/(m⋅K). The cold-compression and sintering are suggested to be employed in the fabrications of the SSPCMs to establish a better conductive passageway and surge the energy storage density.

Light and Scanning Electron Microscopy on Cucullanus aliyaii Akhtar and Mujib (2012) (Nematoda: Cuculanidae) From the Rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus of The Red Sea, Egypt

In the present study, new host and locality records of Cucullanus aliyaii Akhtar and Mujib (2012), a cuculanid nematode isolated from the intestine of the rabbitfish, Siganus canaliculatus collected from the Red Sea, coasts of Hurghada city, Egypt during the period from January to September 2017. Fifteen out of 55 (27.3%) of the examined fish were infected. Worms were recorded by naked eyes on the flesh, stomach, intestines, as well as body cavities of the infected fish. Light and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the isolated worms possessed the important criteria characteristic for members of family Cuculanidae: dimensions of oesophagus, spicules, mucron, size of pseudobuccal capsule, eggs, the position of deirids, excretory pore and vulva, numbers and arrangement of caudal papillae, host groups and zoogeographical regions. The recorded parasite was whitish and small-sized, female worms were 9.40±2 (7.4-10.3) x 2.5±0.2 (2.00-2.60) mm while male worms were 6.30±0.02 (6.00-8.30) mm x 1.60±0.02 (1.59-1.73) mm. Oral aperture was dorsoventrally elongate, slit-like, surrounded by distinct collarette, beared one row of small denticles on its inner surface; four submedian cephalic papillae and a pair of prominent lateral amphids present. Oesophagus was of two distinct portions: anterior pseudobuccal capsule measured 0.50±0.02 (0.47-0.053) mm in length, narrowing immediately below nerve ring; and posterior with a club-shaped muscular structure measured 0.45±0.02 (0.41-0.49) mm in length

Regulation of endothelial cell arrangements within hMSC – HUVEC co-cultured aggregates

BackgroundMicro-mass culturing or cellular aggregation is an effective method used to form mineralised bone tissue. Poor core cell viability, however, is often an impeding characteristic of large micro-mass cultures, and equally for large tissue-engineered bone grafts. Because of this, efforts are being made to enhance large graft perfusion, often through pre-vascularisation, which involves the co-culture of endothelial cells and bone cells or stem cells. MethodsThis study investigated the effects of different aggregation techniques and culture conditions on endothelial cell arrangements in mesenchymal stem cell and human umbilical vein endothelial cell co-cultured aggregates when endothelial cells constituted just 5%. Two different cellular aggregation techniques, i.e. suspension culture aggregation and pellet culture aggregation, were applied alongside two subsequent culturing techniques, i.e. hydrostatic loading and static culturing. Endothelial cell arrangements were assessed under such conditions to indicate potential pre-vascularisation. ResultsOur study found that the suspension culture aggregates cultured under hydrostatic loading offered the best environment for enhanced endothelial cell regional arrangements, closely followed by the pellet culture aggregates cultured under hydrostatic loading, the suspension culture aggregates cultured under static conditions, and the pellet culture aggregates cultured under static conditions. ConclusionsThe combination of particular aggregation techniques with dynamic culturing conditions appeared to have a synergistic effect on the cellular arrangements within the co-cultured aggregates.

Law Protection for Tuak Tree (Borassus Sundaicus) in Kupang City of the West Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

Lontar tree is one of the biological resources that ecologically has a wide and varied distribution. From the description of Beccari (1913), palm leaves which are growing in Indonesia are Borassus Sundaicus. Lontar tree is a dry land resistant plant that has a wide spread, grows in several areas in Indonesia such as in the eastern part of Java Province (i.e. Madura), Bali, West Nusa Tenggara Province, and East Nusa Tenggara Province (Nusa Tenggara Timur or NTT). NTT is a natural distribution area of ​​palm oil, namely on Timor Island, Flores, Sumba, Savu, Rote and other Islands including in the West Timor Island (Kupang City). For the people in Kupang City, lontar tree is more familiar with the term Tuak tree (Timor’s language) or Palm Tree. Tuak tree has benefits for the culture, social, health and economy of the community. However, with various benefits, of course there are problems, namely the existence of threats to the sustainability of its existence. The development in Kupang City has converted the land where Tuak trees are grown for the benefit of government offices, the private sector, residential settlements, the economy, and other public facilities. The threat to the preservation of Tuak trees is also seen in the mindset of local governments and communities who hold firmly a perspective that the Tuak tree is very difficult to be cultivated by the community because it has a natural resistance to its life. The result has been patterned in the community, that the Tuak tree can grow without being planted and mantained. From a legal standpoint, the regional legal norms seem to support the act of transferring the land of the existence of the Tuak tree, even though, the Indonesian national environmental law explicitly instructs legal regulations to take into account the interests of environmental sustainability. The purpose and contribution of this research is to analyze the readiness of regional legal arrangements regarding Green Open Space related to the protection of the carrying capacity of the Tuak tree in its conservation. The contribution of this study as a basis for the consideration of the Indonesian government and the community in planning the establishment of regional laws to support the protection of the Tuak tree in NTT, especially in Kupang City, as well as further research material in the area. This research method was designed as normative and empirical legal research. The normative direction questions the legal regulation aspect from a juridical technical point of view (Dutsch: Tecnischjuridisch begrippen) and also in the realm of legal theory the question of the concept of legal protection for the Tuak tree is questioned. In strengthening conceptual aspects, an empirical legal thinking is inputted to strengthen the conceptual analysis of legal norms. This study uses the Statue approach, Conceptual approach and Case approach. The sources of legal material are in the form of primary and secondary legal materials. The aspects that were studied are the provisions of conservation law related to tree management and protection in order to protect the green open space in Kupang City, where the legal provisions governing follow-up products from the Indonesian national and regional management, determination of Indonesian regional policies relating to management, cultivation, conservation of the Tuak trees and determination of programs related to the conservation of the Tuak trees, which are associated with protection planning policies, conversion of crop land, protection of local food, other follow-up products from palm wine stems and leaves. The results of the study show that the norms in the Kupang City’s Regulation Number. 7 Year 2000 concerning the Green Open Space contain more spatial concepts than the green concept of the existence of the Tuak tree as a biological resource. The word "green" refers to trees or plants that live and grow in Kupang City, but in its implementation, the Indonesian regional law dominates these regulations which are supported by an Indonesian policy that always changes due to a pressure on land requirements for development in Kupang City. The regional legal planning for the law protection of the Tuak tree in Kupang City has not received serious attention yet from the Indonesian regional legislative and executive councils. The legal plan for the protection of the Tuak tree is supposed to be carried out under conditions where the population of the Tuak tree has not been disturbed naturally through its management various development interests in Kupang City, in the West Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

EVALUASI ATAS PENERAPAN SISTEM AKUNTANSI SATUAN KERJA PENGELOLA KEUANGAN DAERAH PEMERINTAH KOTA BOGOR (Studi Kasus pada Dinas Pendapatan Pengelolaan Keuangan dan Aset Daerah)

Aim from this research has explained how far regulation that applied by city government in Bogor, explain how far accounting system applications SKPKD in city government in Bogor , and explain financial statement presentation in city government in Bogor. Research method that used case study method. This method covers activity that done with hold direct research to location to gets data that need to relate to problem that canvassed. Research is done Dinas Pendapatan, Pengelolaan Keuangan, dan Aset Daerah Kota Bogor. From research result that done, that city government bogor in the year 2007 apply Permendagri number 13 year 2006. Then setting accountancy wisdom in city local government bogor appointed in number mayor regulation 26 year 2008 that published on 25 novembers 2008 about system and region finance accounting procedure. City local government finance accounting system bogor comprehensively apply cash inflow accounting procedure, money supply expenditure accounting procedure, perosedur asset accountancy, with accounting procedure besides money supply. Financial statement presentation event, city government financial statement bogor fulfil Standard Government Accountancy as that regulated in PP number 24 year 2005. Evaluation result in this research that city government region finance manager work unit accounting system bogor as according to Permendagri number 13 year 2006 then done to setting accountancy wisdom that regulated in number mayor regulation 26 year 2008. Even if happen slowness in regional leader regulation publication but system and region finance accounting procedure based on Permendagri number 13 year 2006 permanent applied at the (time) of regional leader regulation arrangement current.Keyword: accounting system, ministry of home affairs regulation (Permendagri)

CIDADES NA AGRICULTURA CIENTÍFICA E GLOBALIZADA: TRANSFORMAÇÕES NA DINÂMICA DA POPULAÇÃO E NA ESTRUTURA DO EMPREGO

O objetivo desse trabalho é analisar os processos de redistribuição da população e as mudanças na estrutura do emprego associados à globalização do agronegócio no Estado de São Paulo. Como áreas privilegiadas de transformação social, espaços da globalização cujos vínculos transnacionais mais fortes passam pela produção de commodities, são apresentados os arranjos urbanos-rurais regionais. Nesse estudo, o enfoque recai nos arranjos construídos a partir dos circuitos espaciais produtivos dos setores sucroenergético, citrícola e de frigoríficos de carne bovina. Na condição de espacialidades híbridas, onde tendências históricas coexistem com novos processos, os arranjos urbanos-rurais regionais abrangem múltiplos espaços da migração que expressam toda a desigualdade e segmentação que marca a agricultura científica e globalizada e seu dinâmica de urbanização corporativa.

Eigenstates of soft-mode vibrational excitations in thin-film metallic glasses

The vibrational excitations in ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{50}{\mathrm{Zr}}_{50}$ thin-film metallic glasses are investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. A strong density layering parallel to surfaces is formed in the glassy thin films. This layering behavior results in a layerlike arrangement of soft regions through films. The vibrational excitations in the periodic soft layers are proved to be harmonic and in analog y with the simple one-dimensional lattice vibration. A low-frequency and optical-like phonon mode features the soft-mode excitations. The soft-mode excitations enhance the vibrational density of states in the low-frequency side, depending on the softness of layers. Our results provide direct evidence supporting the low-frequency and nonacoustic vibrational excitations of soft domains in glasses.

An Appraisal of Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) Methods

Background: Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) is an aspect of computer vision and image processing that finds images that are similar to a given query image in a large scale database using the visual contents of images such as colour, texture, shape, and spatial arrangement of regions of interest (ROIs) rather than manually annotated textual keywords. A CBIR system represents an image as a feature vector and measures the similarity between the image and other images in the database for the purpose of retrieving similar images with minimal human intervention. The CBIR system has been deployed in several fields such as fingerprint identification, biodiversity information systems, digital libraries, Architectural and Engineering design, crime prevention, historical research and medicine. There are several steps involved in the development of CBIR systems. Typical examples of these steps include feature extraction and selection, indexing and similarity measurement.
 Problem: However, each of these steps has its own method. Nevertheless, there is no universally acceptable method for retrieving similar images in CBIR.
 Aim: Hence, this study examines the diverse methods used in CBIR systems. This is with the aim of revealing the strengths and weakness of each of these methods.
 Methodology: Literatures that are related to the subject matter were sought in three scientific electronic databases namely CiteseerX, Science Direct and Google scholar. The Google search engine was used to search for documents and WebPages that are appropriate to the study.
 Results: The result of the study revealed that three main features are usually extracted during CBIR. These features include colour, shape and text. The study also revealed that diverse methods that can be used for extracting each of the features in CBIR. For instance, colour space, colour histogram, colour moments, geometric moment as well as colour correlogram can be used for extracting colour features. The commonly used methods for texture feature extraction include statistical, model-based, and transform-based methods while the edge method, Fourier transform and Zernike methods can be used for extracting shape features.
 Contributions: The paper highlights the benefits and challenges of diverse methods used in CBIR. This is with the aim of revealing the methods that are more efficient for CBIR.
 Conclusion: Each of the CBIR methods has their own advantages and disadvantages. However, there is a need for a further work that will validate the reliability and efficiency of each of the method.

International Sanctions on North Korea: A Two‐Level Solution

The North Korean nuclear problem has remained unsolved for 25 years. A variety of approaches can be used to resolve the problem, ranging from economic incentives to dialogues, sanctions, and military strikes, but sanctions appear to be the most plausible solution as a realistic method. Still, the question remains how to make sanctions against North Korea more effective. This article focuses on a regional approach to international cooperation and suggests that a regional security arrangement should be established in Northeast Asia to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. Today, the international order is undergoing change. Globalization is in retreat. Under these circumstances, international problems seem to be solved most effectively through regional cooperation. Northeast Asia has no significant regional cooperation arrangements. A successful regional cooperation requires two elements. First, the South Korean government needs to utilize the North Korean nuclear problem, redefining it as a threat to regional peace; such a shift in threat recognition would elevate the importance of a regional solution. Second, the process of building a regional arrangement needs institutionalization. The existing regional dialogues can hardly help solve the nuclear problem. In this sense, it is necessary to recalibrate the Six‐Party Talks as an institution implementing sanctions as resolutions adopted in the UN Security Council.

Peacekeeping, Latin America and the UN Charter’s Chapter VIII: Past Initiatives and Future Prospects

ABSTRACTAuthorities at the United Nations have repeatedly called on regional organizations to step up their commitment in the area of peacekeeping. These calls are based on Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, which gives regional organizations a role in international peace and security. While organizations in Europe and Africa have created regional peacekeeping arrangements, such have failed to emerge in Latin America. This is puzzling, for different reasons. On the one hand, several countries have recently sought to increase their peacekeeping profile. States have strong incentives to pool their resources, especially if they face budgetary constraints such as the developing countries of Latin America. On the other hand, peacekeeping might provide an answer to some of the security problems the region faces. This article provides an evaluation of how Latin America has responded to the global demand to develop regional peacekeeping capacities. I argue that cooperation in peacekeeping has mainly been the result of foreign policy considerations rather than a concern for peacekeeping per se. In light of past experiences of shallow institutionalization, the article concludes with a reflection on the future prospects for a Latin American peacekeeping framework.

Article The problem of nuclear proliferation and its impact on the formula of strategic balance in the Middle East after the events of September 11, 2001

The issue of nuclear proliferation is one of the most vital issues as it reflects a form of dealing in the field of international relations. Therefore, the Middle East region has taken great interest in reducing the levels of nuclear armament and acquiring nuclear power within the strategic framework of the international and regional powers. The establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East region is currently one of the most important international and regional arrangements for controlling the levels of nuclear proliferation and attempting to build a state of stability and balance. In the Middle East and the world. The importance of the research comes from the fact that it deals with an important and vital issue: the issue of nuclear proliferation and its implications for the equation of the strategic balance in the Middle East after the events of September 11, 2001, which gained great importance in the post-cold war era. And to achieve some kind of stability and balance within the framework of the international and regional environment, especially in the Middle East, which has increased the importance of efforts in this regard the proliferation of nuclear weapons to new countries, it is possible to obtain nuclear technology by enhancing levels The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has become one of the most important facts for the post-Cold War era. At a time when only five countries possessed nuclear weapons (the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain) , As well as the possibility of other countries such as India, Pakistan and Israel, which suggests that the post-Cold War era has seen a widening of the circle of States possessing or manufacturing such weapons (Pakistan, North Korea and Iran) The emergence of regional tensions as in the case of William Middle East. Thus, the issue of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has become a central issue in the context of the post-Cold War American strategy, especially after the events of September 11, 2001, as a result of the convictions that there is an interrelationship between the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the global fight against terrorism. In keeping with this, the research started from the premise that the continuity of the Middle East countries in seeking to acquire nuclear capabilities is in itself an essential brake or determinant of the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, as well as the lack of guarantees to establish security among countries The Middle East, which is reflected negatively on the regional and international security approaches to the Middle East, and of course lead to the adoption of their respective security policies against each other within the framework of the growing levels of nuclear weapons to achieve some kind of balance towards the nuclear capabilities of each of these countries And then more nuclear armament policies in the region, as a result can not promote positive security perceptions that are based on the employment of enablers of smart power, which is reflected negatively on the strategic balance in the territory of the Middle East equation. Keywords: nuclear proliferation, the Middle East, strategic balance, the events of September 11, 2001, regional and international security, doctrine of preemptive war, preemptive war, nuclear deterrence, strategic perception, terrorism, nuclear power Nuclear proliferation.