This second edition of the highly acclaimed and successful first edition, deals primarily with the analysis of structural engineering systems, with applicable methods to other types of structures. The concepts presented in the book are not only relevant to skeletal structures but can equally be used for the analysis of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks. The book has been substantially revised to include recent developments and applications of the algebraic graph theory and matroids.
Optimal analysis is defined as an analysis that creates and uses sparse, well-structured and well-conditioned matrices. The focus is on efficient methods for eigensolution of matrices involved in static, dynamic and stability analyses of symmetric and regular structures, or those general structures containing such components. Powerful tools are also developed for configuration processing, which is an important issue in the analysis and design of space structures and finite element models. Different mathematical concepts are combined to make the optimal analysis of structures feasible. Canonical forms from matrix algebra, product graphs from graph theory and symmetry groups from group theory are some of the concepts involved in the variety of efficient methods and algorithms presented. The algorithms elucidated in this book enable analysts to handle large-scale structural systems by lowering their computational cost, thus fulfilling the requirement for faster analysis and design of future complex systems. The value of the presented methods becomes all the more evident in cases where the analysis needs to be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times, as for the optimal design of structures by different metaheuristic algorithms. The book is of interest to anyone engaged in computer-aided analysis and design and software developers in this field. Though the methods are demonstrated mainly through skeletal structures, continuum models have also been added to show the generality of the methods. The concepts presented are not only applicable to different types of structures but can also be used for the analysis of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks.
This book presents efficient metaheuristic algorithms for optimal design of structures. Many of these algorithms are developed by the author and his graduate students, consisting of Particle Swarm Optimization, Charged System Search, Magnetic Charged System Search, Field of Forces Optimization, Democratic Particle Swarm Optimization, Dolphin Echolocation Optimization, Colliding Bodies Optimization, Ray Optimization. These are presented together with algorithms which are developed by other authors and have been successfully applied to various optimization problems. These consist of Partical Swarm Optimization, Big Band Big Crunch algorithm, Cuckoo Search Optimization, Imperialist Competitive Algorithm and Chaos Embedded Metaheuristic Algorithm. Finally a multi-objective Optimization is presented to Solve large scale structural problems based on the Charged System Search algorithm, In the second edition seven new chapters are added consisting of Enhance colliding bodies optimization, Global sensitivity analysis, Tug of War Optimization, Water evaporation optimization, Vibrating System Optimization and Cyclical Parthenogenesis Optimization algorithm. In the third edition, five new chapters are included consisting of the recently developed algorithms. These are Shuffled Shepherd Optimization Algorithm, Set Theoretical Shuffled Shepherd Optimization Algorithm, Set Theoretical Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization Algorithm, Thermal Exchange Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithm, and Water Strider Optimization Algorithm and Its Enhancement. The concepts and algorithm presented in this book are not only applicable to optimization of skeletal structure, finite element models, but can equally be utilized for optimal design of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks.
The first full-length study of Iranian nationalism in nearly five decades, this sophisticated and challenging book by the distinguished historian Ali M. Ansari explores the idea of nationalism in the creation of modern Iran. It does so by considering the broader developments in national ideologies that took place following the emergence of the European Enlightenment and showing how these ideas were adopted by a non-European state. Ansari charts a course through twentieth-century Iran, analysing the growth of nationalistic ideas and their impact on the state and demonstrating the connections between historiographical and political developments. In so doing, he shows how Iran's different regimes manipulated ideologies of nationalism and collective historical memory to suit their own ends. Drawing on hitherto untapped sources, the book concludes that it was the revolutionary developments and changes that occurred during the first half of the twentieth century that paved the way for later radicalisation.
The contributions in this book discuss large-scale problems like the optimal design of domes, antennas, transmission line towers, barrel vaults and steel frames with different types of limitations such as strength, buckling, displacement and natural frequencies. The authors use a set of definite algorithms for the optimization of all types of structures. They also add a new enhanced version of VPS and information about configuration processes to all chapters. Domes are of special interest to engineers as they enclose a maximum amount of space with a minimum surface and have proven to be very economical in terms of consumption of constructional materials. Antennas and transmission line towers are the one of the most popular structure since these steel lattice towers are inexpensive, strong, light and wind resistant. Architects and engineers choose barrel vaults as viable and often highly suitable forms for covering not only low-cost industrial buildings, warehouses, large-span hangars, indoor sports stadiums, but also large cultural and leisure centers. Steel buildings are preferred in residential as well as commercial buildings due to their high strength and ductility particularly in regions which are prone to earthquakes.
This book presents the so-called Shuffled Shepherd Optimization Algorithm (SSOA), a recently developed meta-heuristic algorithm by authors. There is always limitations on the resources to be used in the construction. Some of the resources used in the buildings are also detrimental to the environment. For example, the cement utilized in making concrete emits carbon dioxide, which contributes to the global warming. Hence, the engineers should employ resources efficiently and avoid the waste. In the traditional optimal design methods, the number of trials and errors used by the designer is limited, so there is no guarantee that the optimal design can be found for structures. Hence, the deigning method should be changed, and the computational algorithms should be employed in the optimum design problems. The gradient-based method and meta-heuristic algorithms are the two different types of methods used to find the optimal solution. The gradient-based methods require gradient information. Also, these can easily be trapped in the local optima in the nonlinear and complex problems. Therefore, to overcome these issues, meta-heuristic algorithms are developed. These algorithms are simple and can get out of the local optimum by easy means. However, a single meta-heuristic algorithm cannot find the optimum results in all types of optimization problems. Thus, civil engineers develop different meta-heuristic algorithms for their optimization problems. Different applications of the SSOA are provided. The simplified and enhanced versions of the SSOA are also developed and efficiently applied to various optimization problems in structures. Another special feature of this book consists of the use of graph theoretical force method as analysis tool, in place of traditional displacement approach. This has reduced the computational time to a great extent, especially for those structures having smaller DSI compared to the DKI. New framework is also developed for reliability-based design of frame structures. The algorithms are clearly stated such that they can simply be implemented and utilized in practice and research.
The main purpose of the present book is to develop a general framework for population-based metaheuristics based on some basic concepts of set theory. The idea of the framework is to divide the population of individuals into subpopulations of identical sizes. Therefore, in each iteration of the search process, different subpopulations explore the search space independently but simultaneously. The framework aims to provide a suitable balance between exploration and exploitation during the search process. A few chapters containing algorithm-specific modifications of some state-of-the-art metaheuristics are also included to further enrich the book. The present book is addressed to those scientists, engineers, and students who wish to explore the potentials of newly developed metaheuristics. The proposed metaheuristics are not only applicable to structural optimization problems but can also be used for other engineering optimization applications. The book is likely to be of interest to a wide range of engineers and students who deal with engineering optimization problems.
This book proposes and validates a number of methods and shortcuts for frugal engineers, which will allow them to significantly reduce the computational costs for analysis and reanalysis and, as a result, for structural design processes. The need for accuracy and speed in analyzing structural systems with ever-tighter design tolerances and larger numbers of elements has been relentlessly driving forward research into methods that are capable of analyzing structures at a reasonable computational cost. The methods presented are of particular value in situations where the analysis needs to be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times, as is the case with the optimal design of structures using different metaheuristic algorithms. Featuring methods that are not only applicable to skeletal structures, but by extension also to continuum models, this book will appeal to researchers and engineers involved in the computer-aided analysis and design of structures, and to software developers in this field. It also serves as a complement to previous books on the optimal analysis of large-scale structures utilizing concepts of symmetry and regularity. Further, its novel application of graph-theoretical methods is of interest to mathematicians.
This book discusses the application of metaheuristic algorithms in a number of important optimization problems in civil engineering. Advances in civil engineering technologies require greater accuracy, efficiency and speed in terms of the analysis and design of the corresponding systems. As such, it is not surprising that novel methods have been developed for the optimal design of real-world systems and models with complex configurations and large numbers of elements. This book is intended for scientists, engineers and students wishing to explore the potential of newly developed metaheuristics in practical problems. It presents concepts that are not only applicable to civil engineering problems, but can also used for optimizing problems related to mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering. It is an essential resource for civil, mechanical and electrical engineers who use optimization methods for design, as well as for students and researchers interested in structural optimization.
The book presents eight well-known and often used algorithms besides nine newly developed algorithms by the first author and his students in a practical implementation framework. Matlab codes and some benchmark structural optimization problems are provided. The aim is to provide an efficient context for experienced researchers or readers not familiar with theory, applications and computational developments of the considered metaheuristics. The information will also be of interest to readers interested in application of metaheuristics for hard optimization, comparing conceptually different metaheuristics and designing new metaheuristics.
The author has published many papers and books on topological transformations for optimal analysis of structures, where many methods and algorithms are developed. However, the framework of this book generalizes many concepts and makes the previously developed methods conceptually more attractive. The aim of the present work is two folds. On the one hand, it shows to mathematicians how the apparently pure mathematical concepts can be applied to the efficient solution of problems in structural mechanics. On the other hand, it illustrates to engineers the important role of mathematical concepts for the solution of engineering problems. The present framework provides efficient means for looking at problems and developing ideas by transforming the models (structures, networks, systems) to other spaces (higher dimension, lower dimension, or identical dimension) to simplify the problems. This book is attractive for those who look at the deeper aspects of concepts and helps the reader to develop his/her own ideas. In general, it opens a new horizon for improving the existing methods in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.
This valuable new book focuses on new methods and techniques in fluid mechanics and heat transfer in mechanical engineering. The book includes the research of the authors on the development of optimal mathematical models and also uses modern computer technology and mathematical methods for the analysis of nonlinear dynamic processes.It covers techn
Shi 'ism caught the attention of the world as Iran experienced her revolution in 1979 and was subsequently cast in the mold of a monolithic discourse of radical political Islam. The spokespersons of Shi'i Islam, in or out of power, have not been the sole representatives of the faith. Nonconformist and uncompromising, the Shi’i jurist and reformist Shari’at Sangelaji (1891-1944) challenged certain popular Shi’i beliefs and the mainstream clerical establishment, guarding and propagating it. In Shi'i Reformation in Iran, Ali Rahnema offers a fresh understanding of Sangelaji’s reformist discourse from a theological standpoint, and takes readers into the heart of the key religious debates in Iran in the 1940s. Exploring Sangelaji’s life, theological position and disputations, Rahnema demonstrates that far from being change resistant, debates around why and how to reform the faith have long been at the heart of Shi’i Islam. Drawing on the writings and sermons of Sangelaji, as well as interviews with his son, the book provides a detailed and comprehensive introduction to the reformist’s ideas. As such it offers scholars of religion and Middle Eastern politics alike a penetrating insight into the impact that these ideas have had on Shi’ism - an impact which is still felt today.
Mathematical Concepts for Mechanical Engineering Design provides a broad understanding of the main computational techniques used for simulation of water distribution networks and water transmission systems. It introduces the theoretical background to a number of techniques and general data analysis techniques. The book also examines the application of techniques in an industrial setting, including current practices and current research, are presented. It provides practical experience of commercially available systems and includes a small-scale water systems related projects. The authors illustrate the concepts and techniques covered in the book by using a calculation that simulates water distribution networks and water transmission systems. The book also covers significant research on new methodologies and important applications in the fields of automation and control as well as includes the latest coverage of chemical databases and the development of new computational methods and efficient algorithms for hydraulic software and mechanical engineering. The book will be informative and useful to both academics and mechanical engineers in various industrial sectors, including hydraulic and mechanical engineering.
Applied Research in Hydraulics and Heat Flow covers modern subjects of mechanical engineering such as fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and flow control in complex systems as well as new aspects related to mechanical engineering education. The chapters help to enhance the understanding of both the fundamentals of mechanical engineering and their appl
The author has published many papers and books on topological transformations for optimal analysis of structures, where many methods and algorithms are developed. However, the framework of this book generalizes many concepts and makes the previously developed methods conceptually more attractive. The aim of the present work is two folds. On the one hand, it shows to mathematicians how the apparently pure mathematical concepts can be applied to the efficient solution of problems in structural mechanics. On the other hand, it illustrates to engineers the important role of mathematical concepts for the solution of engineering problems. The present framework provides efficient means for looking at problems and developing ideas by transforming the models (structures, networks, systems) to other spaces (higher dimension, lower dimension, or identical dimension) to simplify the problems. This book is attractive for those who look at the deeper aspects of concepts and helps the reader to develop his/her own ideas. In general, it opens a new horizon for improving the existing methods in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.
The main purpose of the present book is to develop a general framework for population-based metaheuristics based on some basic concepts of set theory. The idea of the framework is to divide the population of individuals into subpopulations of identical sizes. Therefore, in each iteration of the search process, different subpopulations explore the search space independently but simultaneously. The framework aims to provide a suitable balance between exploration and exploitation during the search process. A few chapters containing algorithm-specific modifications of some state-of-the-art metaheuristics are also included to further enrich the book. The present book is addressed to those scientists, engineers, and students who wish to explore the potentials of newly developed metaheuristics. The proposed metaheuristics are not only applicable to structural optimization problems but can also be used for other engineering optimization applications. The book is likely to be of interest to a wide range of engineers and students who deal with engineering optimization problems.
Optimal analysis is defined as an analysis that creates and uses sparse, well-structured and well-conditioned matrices. The focus is on efficient methods for eigensolution of matrices involved in static, dynamic and stability analyses of symmetric and regular structures, or those general structures containing such components. Powerful tools are also developed for configuration processing, which is an important issue in the analysis and design of space structures and finite element models. Different mathematical concepts are combined to make the optimal analysis of structures feasible. Canonical forms from matrix algebra, product graphs from graph theory and symmetry groups from group theory are some of the concepts involved in the variety of efficient methods and algorithms presented. The algorithms elucidated in this book enable analysts to handle large-scale structural systems by lowering their computational cost, thus fulfilling the requirement for faster analysis and design of future complex systems. The value of the presented methods becomes all the more evident in cases where the analysis needs to be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times, as for the optimal design of structures by different metaheuristic algorithms. The book is of interest to anyone engaged in computer-aided analysis and design and software developers in this field. Though the methods are demonstrated mainly through skeletal structures, continuum models have also been added to show the generality of the methods. The concepts presented are not only applicable to different types of structures but can also be used for the analysis of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks.
This book discusses the application of metaheuristic algorithms in a number of important optimization problems in civil engineering. Advances in civil engineering technologies require greater accuracy, efficiency and speed in terms of the analysis and design of the corresponding systems. As such, it is not surprising that novel methods have been developed for the optimal design of real-world systems and models with complex configurations and large numbers of elements. This book is intended for scientists, engineers and students wishing to explore the potential of newly developed metaheuristics in practical problems. It presents concepts that are not only applicable to civil engineering problems, but can also used for optimizing problems related to mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering. It is an essential resource for civil, mechanical and electrical engineers who use optimization methods for design, as well as for students and researchers interested in structural optimization.
This book presents the so-called Shuffled Shepherd Optimization Algorithm (SSOA), a recently developed meta-heuristic algorithm by authors. There is always limitations on the resources to be used in the construction. Some of the resources used in the buildings are also detrimental to the environment. For example, the cement utilized in making concrete emits carbon dioxide, which contributes to the global warming. Hence, the engineers should employ resources efficiently and avoid the waste. In the traditional optimal design methods, the number of trials and errors used by the designer is limited, so there is no guarantee that the optimal design can be found for structures. Hence, the deigning method should be changed, and the computational algorithms should be employed in the optimum design problems. The gradient-based method and meta-heuristic algorithms are the two different types of methods used to find the optimal solution. The gradient-based methods require gradient information. Also, these can easily be trapped in the local optima in the nonlinear and complex problems. Therefore, to overcome these issues, meta-heuristic algorithms are developed. These algorithms are simple and can get out of the local optimum by easy means. However, a single meta-heuristic algorithm cannot find the optimum results in all types of optimization problems. Thus, civil engineers develop different meta-heuristic algorithms for their optimization problems. Different applications of the SSOA are provided. The simplified and enhanced versions of the SSOA are also developed and efficiently applied to various optimization problems in structures. Another special feature of this book consists of the use of graph theoretical force method as analysis tool, in place of traditional displacement approach. This has reduced the computational time to a great extent, especially for those structures having smaller DSI compared to the DKI. New framework is also developed for reliability-based design of frame structures. The algorithms are clearly stated such that they can simply be implemented and utilized in practice and research.
This book proposes and validates a number of methods and shortcuts for frugal engineers, which will allow them to significantly reduce the computational costs for analysis and reanalysis and, as a result, for structural design processes. The need for accuracy and speed in analyzing structural systems with ever-tighter design tolerances and larger numbers of elements has been relentlessly driving forward research into methods that are capable of analyzing structures at a reasonable computational cost. The methods presented are of particular value in situations where the analysis needs to be repeated hundreds or even thousands of times, as is the case with the optimal design of structures using different metaheuristic algorithms. Featuring methods that are not only applicable to skeletal structures, but by extension also to continuum models, this book will appeal to researchers and engineers involved in the computer-aided analysis and design of structures, and to software developers in this field. It also serves as a complement to previous books on the optimal analysis of large-scale structures utilizing concepts of symmetry and regularity. Further, its novel application of graph-theoretical methods is of interest to mathematicians.
The objective of this project is to investigate the data quality measures and how they are applied to travel time prediction. This project showcases a short term travel time prediction method that takes into account the data needs of the real time
The book presents eight well-known and often used algorithms besides nine newly developed algorithms by the first author and his students in a practical implementation framework. Matlab codes and some benchmark structural optimization problems are provided. The aim is to provide an efficient context for experienced researchers or readers not familiar with theory, applications and computational developments of the considered metaheuristics. The information will also be of interest to readers interested in application of metaheuristics for hard optimization, comparing conceptually different metaheuristics and designing new metaheuristics.
On 8 February 1971, Marxist revolutionaries attacked the gendarmerie outpost at the village of Siyahkal in Iran’s Gilan province. Barely two months later, the Iranian People’s Fada’i Guerrillas officially announced their existence and began a long, drawn-out urban guerrilla war against the Shah’s regime. In Call to Arms, Ali Rahnema provides a comprehensive history of the Fada’is, beginning by asking why so many of Iran’s best and brightest chose revolutionary Marxism in the face of absolutist rule. He traces how radicalised university students from different ideological backgrounds morphed into the Marxist Fada’is in 1971, and sheds light on their theory, practice and evolution. While the Fada’is failed to directly bring about the fall of the Shah, Rahnema shows they had a lasting impact on society and they ultimately saw their objective achieved.
From the rise of constitutionalism during the rule of despotic Qajars, foreign invasions, the Pahlavi regimes' destructive politics, economic, cultural and social modernization efforts and the oil nationalization movement, to the Iranian Revolution, its high hopes, broken promises, repression and intolerance causing national discontent and another socio-political upheaval today, the history of modern Iran has been eventful, unstable and turbulent. In this textbook, Ali Rahnema draws on his experience teaching and researching on modern Iran to render one hundred years of modern Iranian politics and history into easy-to-follow episodic chapters. Step by step, and taking a chronological approach, students are given the core information, analysis, and critical assessment to understand the flow of contemporary Iranian history. This is a comprehensive and exhaustive guide for undergraduate and graduate level courses on modern Iranian history and politics. The textbook is complete with the following pedagogical features: * An initial chapter on how to study Iranian history and how to approach historiography * Images of key individuals discussed in each chapter * Text boxes throughout to highlight key episodes, concepts, and ideas *Three types of exam questions; factual and analytical, seminar, and discussion at the end of each chapter * Glossaries at the end of each chapter *A comprehensive timeline Topics covered include: party formations; the flourishing of the press; the expansion or reduction of political and civil rights; repression and human right abuses; foreign intervention and influence; obsessions over conspiracies; the influence of Western ideologies, the role of nationalism, cultural and historical Persian chauvinism; and Shi'i Islam and competing Shiisms.
This book critically develops and discusses Iran’s geopolitical imaginations and explores its various foreign-policy schools of thought and their controversies. In doing so, the book covers Iran's foreign policy and international relations from "9/11" all the way to Rouhani’s rise (late 2014). Accounting for both domestic and the international balance of power, the book theorizes the post-unipolar world order of the 2000s, dubbed “imperial interpolarity”, examines Iran’s relations with non-Western great-powers in that era, and offers a critique of the “Rouhani doctrine” and its economic and foreign-policy visions. Forged in the fires and intense deliberations of a PhD, undertaken at a most unique institution of higher learning in the world, Ali Fathollah-Nejad has produced one of the most informative and evocative studies of Iran’s foreign policy and international relations to date. Framed in a highly original theoretical approach, Ali’s nuanced analysis, drawing on a lorry load of primary and secondary sources, details the process and context of policy in the Islamic Republic, thus producing an unrivalled and lasting account of modern Iran’s worldview and the behaviour of this revolutionary state in a fast-changing world. —Anoush Ehteshami, Professor of International Relations & Director of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University (UK) Empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated, Iran in an Emerging New World Order flashes out the key drivers behind Iran’s international relations since the mid-2000s. Providing evidence for the material and geopolitical significance of Iran’s identity constructions, the book enriches the debate on the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy and bridges the divide between the discipline of IR and area studies. —Fawaz A. Gerges, Professor of International Relations & inaugural Director, LSE Middle East Centre (2010–13), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); author of the forthcoming The 100 Years' War for Control of the Middle East (Princeton University Press, 2021). Ali Fathollah-Nejad has established himself as one of the most insightful observers of Iranian politics. Providing the analytical background to his assessments of Tehran’s foreign policy in the 21st century, this book comes out opportunely at a time when a new U.S. administration is about to re-engage with Iran. —Gilbert Achcar, Professor of Development Studies and International Relations, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) University of London A decisive contribution to two avant-gardist fields of knowledge: Critical geopolitics and Iranian foreign relations. Anyone interested in cutting-edge research that brings together International Relations and Iranian Studies will revel in this important book. —Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies, Department of Politics and International Studies & former Chair (2012–18), Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS University of London One of the few to have a thorough, beyond-the-headlines and forward-looking grasp of Iran, Ali Fathollah-Nejad offers a brilliant analysis of what is in store for Iran. A must-read for anybody interested in geopolitics. —Florence Gaub, Deputy Director & Director of Research, European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), Paris It is no longer possible to think of any nation-state without simultaneously seeing the reflection of an entire changing world in it. Ali Fathollah-Nejad’s prose and politics in Iran in an Emerging New World Order is the state-of-the-art mapping of the epistemic shift that seeks to understand the global in the local, and the domestic in the foreign. The result is a mode of supple and symbiotic thinking that reveals the way transnational politics dwells on the borderline where the fate of nations unravels into the fold of a dysfunctional disorder that has become the fact of our fragile world. —Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature, Columbia University Iranian politics, outside of a small group of specialists, remains poorly understood. Iran in an Emerging New World Order helps demystify this subject. Thoroughly researched, very accessible and packed with insights, this book, focusing on the Ahmadinejad period, is highly recommended. It makes an important contribution to the study of internal Iranian politics, Iran’s foreign policy orientation and the international relations of the Middle East. —Nader Hashemi, Director, Center for Middle East Studies & Associate Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver Ali Fathollah-Nejad has produced an academic work that is, from my viewpoint, so far the most comprehensive one concerning Iranian standing in regional and international politics, its new political élite and their attitude towards the West and the world order. —Farhad Khosrokhavar, Professor in the Sociology of Contemporary Iran & Director of Studies at EHESS (École des hautes études en sciences sociales), the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, France Since its inception in 1979, the Islamic Republic’s initial foreign policy was based on the rejection of the bipolar international order under the banner of a “neither East nor West” policy. By the end of the Cold War and the emergence of a unipolar order, the Islamic Republic tried to adjust its approach to deal with the United States as a hegemonic power. Iran shifted its foreign policy toward the East as soon as the international order moved from unipolarity in the early 2000s. Why did Iran turn its foreign policy, and what were the consequences and ramifications of this shift? Iran in an Emerging New World Order dives deep to answer these questions. Iran in an Emerging New World Order is a comprehensive and critical review of Iran’s foreign policy in post-unipolar world. As a delightful read full of important information and analyses, the book explores the domestic, regional, and international dimensions and ideational and material factors that shape and impact the Islamic Republic’s geopolitical imaginations and foreign policy controversies. Fathollah-Nejad explores Iran’s foreign-policy transformation from a unipolar to a (what he cautions as an increasingly but not fully-fledged) multipolar order, and its relations with non-Western great-powers in the 21st century. Written with clarity, Iran in an Emerging New World Order is a must-read primer for anyone interested in Iranian politics in particular and Middle East politics in general. —Saeid Golkar, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga; Senior Fellow on Iran Policy, Chicago Council on Global Affairs & author, Captive Society: The Basij Militia and Social Control in Post-Revolutionary Iran (Columbia University Press, 2015) A competent, engaged and impressive study of Iran’s foreign policy and its place in the world. Ali Fathollah-Nejad’s most important quality is that he looks with a wide lens and sees not just Iranian politics and foreign policy (in which he is clearly an expert) but the dynamics of the broader world and changes in the international system. This book is thus a must-read for those interested in Iranian foreign policy but also in shifts and changes of the international system into the second decade of the 21st century. —Arash Azizi (New York University), author of The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US, and Iran’s Global Ambitions (Oneworld Publications, 2020) In presenting Iran as sets of complexities – within and how it acts externally; how it represents itself and is represented by others; its myriad political and religious cultures, and how these shape the state and its international relations – and locating those within a constantly-changing global environment, Fathollah-Nejad provides us with unique and alternative assessments of how Iran’s foreign policy is shaped within the context of what he calls “Imperial Interpolarity”. The creative interplay of these various factors makes this an indispensable text for anyone wishing to understand Iran and its international relations within the current global political environment. —Na’eem Jeenah, Executive Director, Afro–Middle East Centre (AMEC), Johannesburg & advisory board member, World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) A magnificent and conceptually powerful book; an eye opener for those who essentialize the role of Iran in contemporary International Relations. This landmark study covers the complexity of Iran’s cultural geopolitics and the diversity of its interlocutors in 21st-century world politics. The book is useful for delving into the internal dynamics of Iranian politics and its connection with the spheres of power in international relations. It is a very methodical book. Theoretically flawless. A deep, brilliant and enlightening academic text. —Moisés Garduño Garcia, Professor in the Center for International Relations, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) In this book, Ali Fathollah-Nejad goes beyond the usual one-dimensional view that dominates the study of Iran’s foreign policy and presents a comprehensive framework explaining the interrelated role of socio-cultural, economic and geopolitical elements in shaping the Islamic Republic’s foreign-policy orientation. The book also focuses on a crucial period involving two critical transitions: a systemic transition from the unipolar to the post-unipolar world order and a domestic one from a hardline to a more moderate worldview. All this makes the book a valuable contribution to the field. —Hamidreza Azizi, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Middle East and Africa Research Division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) & former Assistant Professor of Regional Studies, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (2016-20) Iran in an Emerging New World Order provides a timely and original account of foreign-policy making in the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially the turbulent first decade of the new millennium. —Kamran Matin, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Sussex University & Associate Research Fellow, Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) Ali Fathollah-Nejad’s Iran in an Emerging New World Order builds on a reliable scientific approach and an informed overview of Iranian foreign policy. It identifies and examines the different factors which orientate it, such as its various schools of thought and their debates, the élites’ role, the interplay between structure and culture, and the one between internal and external realms. Furthermore, it casts light on the evolution of Tehran’s choices, including its “look to the East”. In this new book, Fathollah-Nejad has provided a challenging study which demonstrates the need to go beyond conventional framings, to include political culture, and provides a new evaluation of Iran’s international relations. This is an original and significant contribution to the literature on international relations, the workings of the Islamic Republic, and the understanding of the latter’s regional and global actions. —Firouzeh Nahavandi, Professor of Sociology of Development and Political Science & Director, Institute of Sociology & Director, CECID (Center for International Cooperation and Development Studies), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), as well as President, Graduate School of Development Studies of French Community of Belgium Through its careful analysis of a modern political culture in Iran gestated in the context of an encounter with European colonial modernity and evolved in correspondence with a catalogue of internal and external others, Ali Fathollah-Nejad’s timely book places contemporary geopolitical concerns against a much-needed backdrop of colonial and anti-colonial histories. —Siavash Saffari, Associate Professor of West Asian Studies, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, Seoul National University If you really want to dive deep into Iran and understand the reasons why its leaders are operating in the current crisis, this is the book you should read. It teaches analysts and policy-makers to understand the past to act wisely in the future. —Susanne Koelbl, award-winning Foreign Correspondent, Der Spiegel
This book presents efficient metaheuristic algorithms for optimal design of structures. Many of these algorithms are developed by the author and his graduate students, consisting of Particle Swarm Optimization, Charged System Search, Magnetic Charged System Search, Field of Forces Optimization, Democratic Particle Swarm Optimization, Dolphin Echolocation Optimization, Colliding Bodies Optimization, Ray Optimization. These are presented together with algorithms which are developed by other authors and have been successfully applied to various optimization problems. These consist of Partical Swarm Optimization, Big Band Big Crunch algorithm, Cuckoo Search Optimization, Imperialist Competitive Algorithm and Chaos Embedded Metaheuristic Algorithm. Finally a multi-objective Optimization is presented to Solve large scale structural problems based on the Charged System Search algorithm, In the second edition seven new chapters are added consisting of Enhance colliding bodies optimization, Global sensitivity analysis, Tug of War Optimization, Water evaporation optimization, Vibrating System Optimization and Cyclical Parthenogenesis Optimization algorithm. In the third edition, five new chapters are included consisting of the recently developed algorithms. These are Shuffled Shepherd Optimization Algorithm, Set Theoretical Shuffled Shepherd Optimization Algorithm, Set Theoretical Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization Algorithm, Thermal Exchange Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithm, and Water Strider Optimization Algorithm and Its Enhancement. The concepts and algorithm presented in this book are not only applicable to optimization of skeletal structure, finite element models, but can equally be utilized for optimal design of other systems such as hydraulic and electrical networks.
The contributions in this book discuss large-scale problems like the optimal design of domes, antennas, transmission line towers, barrel vaults and steel frames with different types of limitations such as strength, buckling, displacement and natural frequencies. The authors use a set of definite algorithms for the optimization of all types of structures. They also add a new enhanced version of VPS and information about configuration processes to all chapters. Domes are of special interest to engineers as they enclose a maximum amount of space with a minimum surface and have proven to be very economical in terms of consumption of constructional materials. Antennas and transmission line towers are the one of the most popular structure since these steel lattice towers are inexpensive, strong, light and wind resistant. Architects and engineers choose barrel vaults as viable and often highly suitable forms for covering not only low-cost industrial buildings, warehouses, large-span hangars, indoor sports stadiums, but also large cultural and leisure centers. Steel buildings are preferred in residential as well as commercial buildings due to their high strength and ductility particularly in regions which are prone to earthquakes.
Finalist, 2018 John Gardner Fiction prize The Place of Stones is Ali Hosseini’s newly translated first novel, his second book to appear in English. In it, he paints a vivid portrait of Sangriz, a village in the southern part of Iran where life has been disrupted by industrialization and the revolution of 1979. Haydar and Jamal are best friends, and their families have always made their living from the land in the foothills of Iran’s Zagros Mountains. Haydar is a dreamer who searches the hills for an ancient treasure called the Black Globe. Jamal is in love with Haydar’s sister, Golandam, and he attempts to accommodate himself to modernization as a way to create a better life for the two of them. The rapacious conversion of farmland to brick factories draws the trio into escalating conflict with the village landlord. As Jamal, Haydar, and their families confront land reform, industrialization, revolution, and war, their lives are pulled forcefully toward the explosive events that will change them all. In masterfully crafted prose that never sinks into sentimentality, The Place of Stones illuminates how a lost past continues to shape the present.
Ali Ansari provides a radical reinterpretation of Iranian history and politics, placing the Islamic Revolution in the context of a century of political change and social transformation, to gain a fuller understanding of Iran's identity, culture, and politics
Coding for MIMO Communication Systems is a comprehensive introduction and overview to the various emerging coding techniques developed for MIMO communication systems. The basics of wireless communications and fundamental issues of MIMO channel capacity are introduced and the space-time block and trellis coding techniques are covered in detail. Other signaling schemes for MIMO channels are also considered, including spatial multiplexing, concatenated coding and iterative decoding for MIMO systems, and space-time coding for non-coherent MIMO channels. Practical issues including channel correlation, channel estimation and antenna selection are also explored, with problems at the end of each chapter to clarify many important topics. A comprehensive book on coding for MIMO techniques covering main strategies Theories and practical issues on MIMO communications are examined in detail Easy to follow and accessible for both beginners and experienced practitioners in the field References at the end of each chapter for further reading Can be used with ease as a research book, or a textbook on a graduate or advanced undergraduate level course This book is aimed at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners in industry, as well as individuals working for government, military, science and technology institutions who would like to learn more about coding for MIMO communication systems.
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