The purpose of this research is to fractionize BORDERs areas by using TOPOSIS technique. All BORDERs areas including 100 districted BORDER fractions and rural villages– except sea BORDERs. The results based on calculated Ci* showed that this amount are 0.12 (for minimum) for Saleh-Abad district of Mehran city in Ilam province and 0.47 (for maximum) for Khabushan district of Faarooj city in Khorasan province. The average is 0.32. Therefore the changing range of rural areas developing level has been estimated 0.348 for 100 COUNTRY BORDER fractions. Also 46 BORDER fractions were under average developing index and 44 BORDER fraction were upper than this index. Analysis of variance showed the significance difference among province developing index. The Northern Khorasan and Eastern Azarbaijan provinces had the highest and Sistan-O-Baluchestan had the lowest developing level among province BORDER fractions.

This paper aims to understand the structure and determinants of international bank lending among APEC economies. Specifically, this paper first aims to analyze whether Australia; Canada; Japan; Chinese Taipei; and the United States, which are the only APEC members for which international borrowing data are available, tend to lend more intensively to other APEC members than to non-APEC countries. This paper finds that the estimate for the APEC membership dummy in the equation for outward bank lending is positive and statistically significant, but the estimate for the APEC membership dummy becomes insignificant when a bilateral trade intensity variable is added, suggesting that closer ties in bank lending (outward) among APEC member economies are mostly due to closer ties in trade in goods. On the other hand, the estimates for the APEC membership dummy in the inward equation are negative and significant. This suggests that the 21 APEC member economies borrow more from non-APEC member economies than from the five APEC members. Finally, the five APEC member economies make fewer loans to the economies with a greater COUNTRY risk. When the three disaggregated risk measures are added in the regression alternatively and concurrently, it is found that bank lending is positively associated with political and economic risks, but is negatively associated with financial risk. Thus, bank lenders from the five APEC member economies appear to make a proper assessment of the political and economic risks when making international loans.

Background & Purpose: Due to its special geographical location, ethnic and cultural diversity, and proximity to neighboring countries, the western BORDER regions of the COUNTRY are of strategic importance in various political, economic and cultural dimensions and provide a suitable platform for strengthening cultural exchanges and international interactions. However, cultural development in these areas faces challenges. Based on this, in this research, the main obstacles to cultural development in the western BORDER areas of the COUNTRY are identified and solutions are presented to strengthen the axis of cultural development in these areas. Methodology: The current research is applied-developmental in terms of its purpose. In the framework of qualitative research, the method of thematic analysis and research synthesis was used, and in the framework of quantitative research, the survey method was used. The data collection tools were semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The qualitative and quantitative statistical population consisted of governors, university professors, senior commanders of the BORDER regiment, experts in the field of culture and Islamic guidance, as well as valid scientific documents. 18 interviewers and 12 scientific texts were selected for sampling using a purposeful and criteria-based method. Findings: The findings of the analysis of the interviews using thematic analysis method indicated the identification of 16 factors as obstacles to cultural development and 31 factors as effective factors on cultural development in the western BORDER areas of the COUNTRY. The results of the synthesis research also summarized the axes of cultural development based on the experiences of successful countries in 5 axes: 1. Paying attention to the underlying infrastructures 2. The necessity of cultural demands 3. Social justice 4. Non-contradiction of tradition with modernity 5. Paying attention to institutional infrastructures. Conclusion: Cultural development can be defined as the process of enhancing various aspects of society's culture in line with desired goals. Inspired by the experience of successful countries, effective steps can be taken in the direction of cultural development by strengthening public participation, creating supportive policies and paying attention to investment in education and culture.

In recent decades, the control of Iran's eastern BORDERs has always been of particular importance due to its geographical location and security conditions in the region. The aim of the present study is to conduct a comparative study of the control of the COUNTRY's eastern BORDERs by the Gendarmerie in the 1960s and the BORDER Guard in the 1990s. The present study is applied in terms of its purpose; exploratory in terms of the nature of the data and qualitative in terms of its implementation method. The participants in this study are the commanders of the eastern BORDER guard units of the COUNTRY in the 1990s; commanders, experts and gendarmerie experts; experts and experts who have years of service in both the BORDER Guard and Gendarmerie. The statistical sample was selected based on the richness of the data to be 45 people. The data collection tool was semi-structured interviews, and the content analysis method was used to analyze the data. The findings showed that in the discussion of differences, the organizational structure and responsibilities, equipment and technology, operational approach (security strategy), political and international influences, legal and regulatory changes, discipline and disciplineability, and in the discussion of similarities, the nature and strategy of supervision, reliance on human resources, management and organization, interaction with other security institutions, geographical structure, and socio-cultural measures were most emphasized by the participants in the study. The results of this study showed that the control of Iran's eastern BORDERs in the 1960s by the Gendarmerie and in the 1990s by the BORDER Guard, both periods faced their own challenges and opportunities. This study emphasizes that despite significant differences, there are also important similarities that should be considered in strategic planning for BORDER management.

Water yield is a key indicator of the performance and valuable service of the ecosystem that directly affects the sustainable development of the economy, human well-being, and ecosystems of a basin. Using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs model (InVEST), water yield changes were simulated in 10 basins by the eastern BORDER in South Khorasan province under the influence of land use/land cover changes. The model was calibrated using the long-term data of flow at Efin, Khonik Olia, Mansourabad, Gezik, and Ahangaran stations. Also, the economic value of water yield service was calculated in each of the different land uses/land covers. The results showed the highest and the lowest volume of produced water respectively in Esfadan basin with 8,126,129 cubic meters and in Namakzar-Khaf Basin with 185,590 cubic meters. The amount of water yield in the whole studied area was 14,836,168 cubic meters. In terms of the land use/land cover, the highest amount of water yield was obtained in lands with dense and semi-dense range with more than 12,430,000 cubic meters followed by the lands with sparse range with more than 1,990,000 cubic meters. The total economic value of the water yield in the eastern BORDER basins was equal to 16,115,806.5 million Rials. The spatial distribution of economic values of the ecosystem, which was carried out in this research through quantification, mapping and valuation, of ecosystem services, can be used as an important and reliable tool for natural capital management and policy making.

Introduction: International boundaries are considered as the first point of impact and the front-line of combat with threat; hence, boundary security greatly induces the national security of the COUNTRY. As a result, throughout the history, governments have always tried to apply various plans and policies, proportional to the time, place, and technology in each historical period to secure the boundaries. The construction of the Wall of China, Hardin, Golestan, etc. by the governments is the evidence of this point. Iran, due to being located in the Middle East, is faced with major challenges and developments. The threats such as illegal migrations, human and drug trafficking, the importation of prohibited goods, and ethnic movements on the one hand, and the specific features of the BORDER areas _geographical isolation, being away from the center, the lack of development of the BORDER areas, etc._ on the other hand, spread insecurity in the BORDER areas. Therefore, it is essential to study the optimal approaches and strategies of boundary management...