فصلنامه مدیریت بحران و وضعیت های اضطراری
پیاپی 22 (پاییز 1393)

Economic crisis is not typically a new phenomenon in the United States. However, the 2008 financial crisis, although it is not probably as serious as that of 1929, compared with other cases, it can be considered the biggest financial crisis in this country. Given the significant role of economy in the soft power and public diplomacy of America and considering the interest of Obama Administration in soft approaches, this question is raised: ‘What impacts have the afore-mentioned crisis had on the U.S. public diplomacy and soft power?’ The hypothesis based on this question is: ‘Although the 2008 economic crisis hasn’t highly impacted the implementation of the U.S. public diplomacy plans, it has led to the reduction of the credit and attractiveness of this country in economic arenas, which plays a significant role in soft power generation, and has damaged other U.S. soft power resources such as culture and values’. Hence, the present study, first, deals with the influence of economy on soft power, and, then, examines the standing of this factor in America's soft power. Finally, following an evaluation of causes of the economic crises in recent years, the impact of this crisis on America's soft power is examined.

The main purpose of this research work is to examine the factors shaping and expanding the post-parliamentaryelection crisis in Babolsar, Feridonkenar in 2003, so that these factors and the control measures taken by the crisis management system can be understood. The research method is a combination of the qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings were attained through the qualitative method and an in-depth interview. The validity of the interview was confirmed through a researcher-made questionnaire and its reliability was established through the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In this study, an attempt has been made to review the relevant literature, introduce the features of the postelections unrests in Feridonkenar in 2003 and evaluate the factors shaping and expanding the crisis and the control measures taken by the crisis management system. Finally, thefindings derived from the description and analysis of the data were integrated into a questionnaire which was answered by a group of local experts and elites and the collected responses were analyzed by the SPSS software. The results indicate that all the factors shaping and expanding the post-election events in Babolsar are confirmed.

Spatial planning refers to giving the best possible arrangement to the existing elements on a piece of land including population, space, amenities, services and activities in order to fulfill justice and develop all areas together and help every individual in the society benefit from the national riches and services. Most environmental, social, economic and. .. crises are rooted in decision-makers’ being neglectful of this crucial issue. This planning, that combines the three of sciences of geography, sociology and economics, can help managers in all phases of crisis management process and can essentially prevent the escalation of crises. In this article, defining spatial planning and giving a brief history of it, we seek to explicate its relationship with and role in the crisis management process.

Today, social media play a very important role in the political and social events of different countries and cultures and their impact on the events following the 2009 presidential elections in Iran is undeniable. Therefore, the importance of the function of these media made us conduct the present research work and disclose some aspects of this issue. To examine the issue more deeply, a sample of 362 videos from the YouTube content was selected through the simple random sampling method and analyzed. The technique utilized in this research is the dimension technique along with the description method of the calculated ratios of the dimensions. The process of analysis was based on four soft war variables (delegitimization of the ruling political system, disuniting the community, securitizing the political and social space and development of conflicting norms) and 16 dimensions, which began after validating the research instrument through pre-test and coding, collecting and categorizing the data based on 16 dimensions and verifying its reliability. Data analysis began by calculating the frequency of the ratio of the dimensions and using Chi-Square to find out any possibly existing priority among the dimensions, it was concluded that some dimensions had higher frequency than others.

The purpose of this study was to address the suburbanization issue and its consequences, particularly its security implications in Tehran metropolis. As a megacity, Tehran has a major role in the development of the national economy. At the same time, due to its irregular and unstructured spatial expansion as a consequence of the movement of activities and population from the city center to suburbs, it has created various social and security damages. On the other hand, negligence of the suburban problems has created troubles inside the city which, in turn, has brought about various social, psychological and security damages; that is, the suburban problems have dominated the city which may pave the way for the occurrence of security crises in the future.

Analyzing women’s status in Islam, this research work attempts to survey the resistance of this large social stratum against enemies on the basis of a passive defense approach. Accordingly, based on Quranic verses as well as the history of Islam and examples from the life story of the Prophet and the innocent Imams (a.s.), this study seeks to clarify that women have actively and constantly participated in defense affairs during the history of Islam. The article also deals with defense, particularly cultural defense and its necessity. The findings of this study reveal that women are so important in the field of defense that, under necessity, they can take up arms and fight against the enemy together with men despite their exemption of active (direct) defense.