The presence of 2 species of genus Codonopsis in the flora of Middle Asia was traced. Description of a new species found in the western part of Uzbekistan is given. Furkat O. Khassanov (correspondence), Ulugbek H. Kodyrov, Central Herbarium, Institute of the Gene Pool of Plants and Animals of Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, st. Durmon yuli 32, 100125, Т ashkent, Uzbekistan. Anar Myrzagaliyeva The Republic of Kazakhstan, 070019, Ust-Kamenogorsk, 55, Kazakhstan st., East-Kazakhstan State University.

Middle Asia is one of the major centers of origin and diversity of the family Apiaceae. Secretory system and other anatomical peculiarities of many endemic Apiaceae are still poorly investigated. Comparative anatomical study of plant secretory structures has a great theoretical and practical importance in relation to taxonomy, ecology and pharmacology. The paper provides the results of structural investigation of the secretory system of five endemic and medicinal species of Apiaceae from Middle Asia (Sphaerosciadium denaense, Ferula foetida, F. varia, F. kyzylkumica, Dorema sabulosum). It was revealed that different representatives of the family Apiaceae growing in various habitats have a secretory system represented with terpenoid keeping schizogenous secretory ducts. Desert plants (F. foetida, F. varia, F. kyzylkumica, D. sabulosum) have larger secretory ducts producing more of terpenoids, than a mesophilous relic mountain species S. denaense. The most characteristic structural features of secretory system of S. denaense are small diameter of lumen, small epithelial cells, and the absence of ducts around the xylem of the medullary bundles in the stem and petioles. The structural features of secretory system are specific to each of the investigated plants. The topography and dimensions of secretory ducts are a diagnostic character applied in species identification.

In Persian, like many other languages, there are three voices, passive, active and middle. In Persian, middle voice, like passive voice, is a structure consisting of a one-place predicate. Middle verbs are morphologically active and semantically passive. The purpose of this article is to describe the properties of middle construction in Persian and to explore the derivation of middle as a transitive structure within the framework of the latest version of Generative Grammar.

The part of Asia that for various political and geographical reasons has been called by various names such as Middle Asia, Central Asia and the heart of Asia, after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of new independent states in the region, provided new opportunities in various economic, cultural, political and religious aspects for the major players in world politics, as well as giving rise to questions and ambiguities about how to take advantage of these opportunities. Since the knowledge of history is at the core of the solution to any problem in human relations, the study of the history of this region has also been the focus of some political institutions and academic forums. The history of Middle Asia (from Mongolia to Khorezm) by Swat Soucek is one of the works that offers a narrative of the 14th century history of this region. The author seeks to provide a historical introduction that opens the door for politicians, journalists, businessmen, and researchers to penetrate the lesser-known world of this part of the geography of world history.The present article tries to provide an analytical method, a critical evaluation of the book translation and the author's historical approach.

Rapid economic and steady high rates of economic growth has drastically increased the need for imported oil in Asia-Pacific region; China -an oil exporting country in the region till 1993- is now the third oil importer of the world with the neighboring Japan being in the second place. South Korea as the world’s ninth oil importer consumes almost as much as the entire oil production of oil exporting countries such as Kuwait, UAE or Venezuela. Supply diversification policies has already met their limits for the region as the African and Russian oil productions have provided nothing but a small portion of the Asia-Pacific’s ever-increasing energy needs and therefore the region’s dependence to Middle East oil exports has been increasing rapidly and constantly.

A B S T R A C T Transformations such as globalization, the contiguity of geographical spaces, as well as developments in the field of military technologies have transformed the issue of defense as the main factor for the survival of countries. Because the transformation from hard to soft war and then the smart war in recent decades has changed the approaches to defense. These transformations have led to the development of discussions about defense purposes. Meanwhile, Middle East countries have a prominent position and importance in terms of defense due to their special conditions. This article has tried to investigate the basic dimensions affecting the defense of foreign countries with descriptive and analytical methods, using library and field findings and Smart-PLS software. The results of the current research show that the effective components in the current research include 130 items that are placed in the form of 15 dimensions. The importance of these dimensions in defense of the Middle East countries is, respectively, geopolitical dimension with a 0.43 score, military dimension with a 0.41 score, economic dimension with a 0.41 score, political dimension with a 0.39 score, hydrology dimension with a 0.34 score, security dimension with a 0.32 score, social dimension with a 0.29 score, demographic dimension with a 0.28 score, cultural dimension with a 0.26 score, scientific-health dimension with a 0.25 score, geomorphological dimension with a 0.25 score, mathematical dimension with a 0.2 score, climatic dimension with a 0.2 score, biological dimension with a 0.2 score and soil dimension with a 0.18 score. Extended Abstract Introduction Security and defense are among the most vital issues for the preservation and survival of countries. In fact, defense and military affairs are necessary for countries' independence and political, cultural and economic development. Among them, geography and political geography are prominent fields that directly affect defense issues. Actions taken by a country in dimensions (political, military, economic, etc.) in order to maintain security and territorial integrity, guarantee independence and protection of its people against any enemy attack, will organize the geographical (spatial) environment, wise and appropriate distribution of critical places and sensitive centers and infrastructures are identified by taking into account the threats and the correct use of environmental capacities in political, economic, social, cultural, etc. dimensions, and as a result, it can lead to stability and stability in the country's geographical space. The design of defense planning model according to the economic, cultural, political and environmental features in the new era when countries are facing external and internal threats as a sub-branch of territorial planning has received the attention and importance of officials and governance systems in order to be able to reduce these threats with accurate and systematic planning in the geographical space, defense planning is not separate from the flow of national and regional planning. It is important to pay attention to it based on the type and amount of external and internal threats to governance. Due to the expansion of the security circle, the government is not only responsible for creating military security. However, it must also exercise part of its authority in the direction of territorial management. On the other hand, there has been a transformation in the form of threats and wars based on changes and the movement from hard to soft war and finally, smart war is the basis for reviewing and recognizing the components that can be used in defense of countries, including the Middle East countries, have a prominent position and importance. Despite the internal differences between countries, the Middle East has commonalities and connections that can directly affect the overall defense of this geographical space.   Methodology In terms of type and purpose, the current research is fundamentally applied. Also, it is descriptive and analytical in terms of nature. This research, in addition to the correct and realistic depiction of the defense situation of the Middle East countries, it is tried to provide a suitable model for the defense of the countries. The sources used in the current research are library and field sources (questionnaires). According to the subject of the current research, the statistical population of this research is a collection of people, experts and elites who have sufficient knowledge, experience and expertise regarding the research topic, which is the design of the defense model, according to the nature of the Delphi pattern model, at least the statistical population based on the sources should be between twenty and fifty people to reach statistical saturation. The number of selected samples included 51 people who were identified in the form of a non-random sampling pattern and introduced as a statistical sample in the framework of the Delphi model. Due to the qualitative nature of this research, it has been tried to use the Delphi model in the framework of the targeted non-random model. Therefore, based on these cases, the current research has selected the maximum statistical population of 51 elites, experts, and opinionated people in this field. In this research, to evaluate the research hypotheses in the form of the hardness equations model, the partial least squares method and the SMART-PLS software, which is a variance-based path modeling technique and provides the possibility of checking the theory and metrics simultaneously, have been exerted.   Results and discussion In this research, approaches such as political, military, cultural, etc., in the field of land use have been discussed. In the meantime, the defense of countries as an emerging approach is significant. According to the developments in geographical spaces, such as the evolution of military-defense technologies, the connection of geographical spaces to each other and most importantly, the movement from hard and soft war to smart war has witnessed a transformation and wide attention in a way that countries are suited to these developments are trying to prepare the geographical space of their country in terms of defense. Therefore, the defense planning of the Middle East countries as a geographical region has great importance from a geopolitical and strategic point of view, which indicates that the countries of this region face threats and complex defense-security issues in different ways.   Conclusion The results of the present research show that the defense planning in developing countries should be considered according to their characteristics, considering all 15 dimensions, which include 130 components. In the design of the defense planning of these countries, attention should be paid to the weight and importance of the shaping dimensions. In general, it can be said that the defense planning of the Middle East countries is proportional to the geographical features of these countries and on the other hand, considering the developments in the field of threats and moving from hard to smart war, 15 dimensions should be considered for the defense of these countries.   Funding There is no funding support.   Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.   Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.   Acknowledgments  We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Introduction: Although deterrence can be traced back to the military literature and the writings of Carl von Clausewitz, deterrence theory neverthelessflourished in the Post-World War II era and after the advent of nuclear weapons. The deterrence strategy is especially important in some regions such as the Middle East, Eurasia and South Asia, which are among the most intense  conflict zones in the world.Research question: What are the conceptual coordinates of the internationalization of deterrence as a theoretical framework and its application to Iran's deterrence strategy in the peripheral regions?Research hypothesis: In response to the main question of the article, using the case study method, the author proposes the concept of internationalization of deterrence and examines its application first by the great powers of the world and then by Iran in its peripheral regions including the Middle East, Eurasia and South Asia. The internationalization of deterrence means a situation where the deterrent power provides part of its military and security capabilities including weapons, forces, and allies to other actors who intend to raise the level of deterrence, increase its effectiveness and expands its geographical scope, thereby creating fundamental changes in the strategic calculations of a potential aggressor. Internationalization of deterrence using missile power and paramilitary groups has been a part of Iran's military and security strategy in peripheral regions including the Middle East, Eurasia and South Asia.Methodology and theoretical framework: In this research, using Qualitative case study method, the concept of internationalization of deterrence and its application by Iran at the regional and global level has been analyzed. This paper presents the theoretical framework of the internationalization of deterrence. In the framework of this theory, political actors in the field of world politics transfer part of their military and weapons capacity to allied actors with the aim of strengthening deterrence.Results and discussion: Deterrence theory flourished after World War II and after the advent of nuclear weapons. The United States as the first nuclear power, maintained a monopoly on nuclear weapons for four years. During the Cold War, as part of the nuclear sharing policy, the United States deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Europe to counterbalance the conventional superiority of the Warsaw Pact countries. Nuclear sharing was in fact a kind of internationalization of US nuclear deterrence. In addition to nuclear deterrence, world powers internationalized their conventional deterrence at lower levels. The deployment of Jupiter missiles in Turkey, the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba, the deployment of the American and Soviet missiles on European soil, and the AUKUS treaty are among the most important examples of internationalization of conventional deterrence after World War II. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War and the emergence of new threats such as terrorism, cyber attacks and limited wars, caused a change in the deterrence strategy of countries and more attention to improving conventional deterrence.Iran is one of the countries that has changed its conventional deterrence strategy in the last few decades. The 1979 revolution can be considered as the origin of Iran's proxy deterrence because one of its most important goals was the export of its revolutionary thinking for the freedom of the nations of the region. Although this ideal did not change any country in the region, it aligned some groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and etc.  with Iran’s regional doctrine. The 8-year Iran-Iraq war can be considered as the source of Iran's missile deterrence. In the early years after the victory of the revolution, the structure of Iran's military forces was practically in disarray. Saddam Hussein also tried to use this opportunity to achieve his expansionist goals in the oil-rich areas of Iran. During the war, while the Iraqi army had access to many conventional and unconventional weapons from 80 countries, Iran was under arms embargo and in order to receive a limited number of missiles, it had to enter into tough diplomatic and military negotiations with four countries: Syria, Libya, North Korea, and China. After the end of the war, the development of the missile program became a key to Iran's deterrence strategy. Due to arms embargoes and financial problems after the war, Iran first built its pillars of deterrence on the two bases of proxy and missile deterrence, and in the second stage, it internationalized its deterrence in peripheral regions such as the Middle East, Eurasia and South Asia.Conclusion: The 1979 revolution and the 8-year war with Iraq prompted Iran to use a different deterrence strategy in its peripheral regions in order to internationalize its deterrence. Financial problems after the 8-year war with Iraq, as well as arms embargos, led Iran to internationalize its deterrence using missile power and allied groups. This policy has changed the strategic calculations of possible aggressive powers and has prevented a new large-scale war against Iran.

Eremurus alberti is introduced as a new record for the flora of Iran from the Khorasan-e-Razavi Province in northeast Iran. It grows on marl hills and rocky slopes in arid or semiarid areas and distinctly differs from the other Iranian Eremurus species by its fleshy red petals. Its remarkable features, such as impressive rosette leaves, and eye-catching inflorescence during flowering and fruiting periods, make it a sought-after choice for ornamental purposes. This species is mainly distributed in Middle Asia and Afghanistan. A detailed description, pictures, and distribution map for the species are presented.