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This book covers the issue of global migration flows, with a particular focus on irregular migration. It presents and evaluates the principal drivers of migration as well as recent policies implemented to handle these flows in East and South Asia, the European Union and the United States.Crucially, the chapters explore how different actors interact in using or promoting migratory flows from a humanitarian, political, criminal and security point of view, thereby highlighting the central role played by migrant-smuggling mafias. The book draws attention to the fundamental role of such mafias, their growing transformation and transnationalism, and the inadequate response and adaptation of state policies and police forces. It also highlights the increasing use of migration by various states in their policies of influence, if not aggression, towards third countries, in the absence of a clear deterrent response. Looking to the future, the book highlights the growing importance of the complex issue of environmentally-induced migration.

With China's global ascendancy, Chinese foreign policy has become a popular area of studies for scholars around the world. Rather than simply contributing to this subject, this book sets out to reflect on the field itself, using as samples some of the author's previous work, both published and unpublished, covering different areas of Chinese foreign policy and adopting different approaches. In doing so, it examines how knowledge about Chinese foreign policy has evolved, focusing on areas such as traditions, values, perspectives and regionalism.The field of Chinese foreign policy has evolved along with international relations and foreign policy analysis. The quality of the studies of specific topics has generally been high thanks to the competitive and extensive nature of academic research and exchange, despite a perceived failure to predict Beijing's current assertive foreign policy orientation. Looking forward, this book reflects on how changing trends in a number of key areas -- a shift in thinking about opposition research, an excessive focus on national security, narrowing of academic exchange, and increasingly limited access between China and the West -- threaten to lower the quality in future Chinese foreign policy studies in Western countries.

The existence of transcendental numbers was first proved in 1844, by Joseph Liouville. Advances were made by Charles Hermite, proving the transcendence of the number e, and Ferdinand von Lindemann, proving the transcendence of the number ¿. The consequence of these discoveries was the negative solution to the problem of squaring the circle, which has stood for many years. In the 20th century, the theory of transcendental numbers developed further, with general methods of investigating the arithmetic nature of various classes of numbers. One of these methods is the Siegel-Shidlovskii method, previously used for the so-called E- and G-functions.Polyadic Transcendental Number Theory outlines the extension of the Siegel-Shidlovskii method to a new class of F-series (also called Euler-type series). Analogues of Shidlovskii's famous theorems on E-functions are obtained. Arithmetic properties of infinite-dimensional vectors are studied, and therefore elements of direct products of rings of integer p-adic numbers are considered. Hermite-Padé approximations are used to investigate the values of hypergeometric series with algebraic irrational parameters. Moreover, the book describes how to use Hermite-Padé approximations to obtain results on the values of hypergeometric series with certain transcendental (polyadic Liouville) parameters. Based on recent results, this book contains indications of promising areas in a new field of research. The methods described will allow readers to obtain many new results.

This Handbook presents recent trends and new developments in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) research within the realms of business, finance, and sustainability. Divided into three distinct parts, it encompasses 19 chapters that offer insightful studies conducted in diverse national environments and organizational settings.Part I focuses on DEA applications in business, including healthcare, supply chain management, and governmental organizations. Part II delves into the application of DEA in banking and finance, providing valuable insights into the efficiency and performance of financial institutions. Part III explores DEA's diverse applications in sustainability, addressing topics such as sustainability indicators, resource mobilization, food production, and farming. In essence, this Handbook stands as an invaluable reference work for stakeholders seeking to optimize organizational efficiency and performance across a variety of sectors.

We wrote this book to help financial experts and investors to understand the state of the art of artificial intelligence and machine learning in finance. But first, what is artificial intelligence? The foundations of artificial intelligence lie in the human desire to automate. Often this desire has had foundations in grand civilization-defining visions or economic needs, such as the Antikythera mechanism, circa 200 BCE. Considered to be the oldest known example of an analog computer, it is thought that the mechanism automated the prediction of the positions of the sun, the moon, and the planets to assist in navigation.No matter the specific industry or application, AI has become a new engine of growth. Both finance and banking have been leveraging AI technologies and algorithms, applying them to automate routine tasks, procedures and forecasting, thereby improving overall customer experience.The topics covered in this book make it an invaluable resource for academics, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners alike who want to understand how AI has affected the banking and financial industries and how it will continue to change them in the years to come.

This book reflects on work done through the Managing Extreme Technological Risk (METR) project, a pioneering research programme within the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge. METR has been both an exercise in 'academic engineering' to address major global challenges, and a research programme that extends beyond traditional academic outputs into methodological development and innovative forms of expert engagement and outreach.Managing Extreme Technological Risk explores how the METR programme developed a model that is needed to effectively understand risks to the survival of humanity, as well as their management and mitigation. It reflects on the challenges faced and lessons learned in the process of building a research community focused on this aim. This book brings together findings and future considerations from a key formative phase, not just for the Centre, but for the field of existential risk and aligned areas of research as a whole. It relates the story of this journey and outlines some of the programme's specific findings. There is an overall focus on what has been learnt for approaching the study of existential risk and how this can, and must, be taken forward by others, urgently and at scale.

According to World Bank (2021), the economic recovery post-COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been uneven and tumultuous. Reasons for this include exposure to oil-price fluctuations, the impact of pandemic, public demonstrations, and political instability. Although the MENA region encompasses a variety of countries - wealthy, stable and oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as less secure countries such as Iraq and Syria - it plays an important role in the global economy.Handbook of Banking and Finance in the MENA Region explores the trends in finance and banking of the MENA region, including theoretical and empirical perspectives from researchers around the globe. The first part of the book explores numerous reforms in the region's banking and finance, including digital technology, financial technology (fintech) and green finance. While financial inclusion in the Gulf Cooperation Council is much higher, the other countries in the MENA region have yet to overcome this trend, and the second part of the book provides specific case studies of ways in which banks have contributed to the region. The final section of the book considers macroeconomic factors and financial development. Together these perspectives enrich the discussion of facts and development challenges in the finance and banking of the MENA region as a whole.

Fintech and Green Investment: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities is a comprehensive resource that provides insight into the difficulties and future potential of the transition to green investments through the fintech revolution.This book focuses on how the intersection of fintech and green investment can be used to overcome challenges and create new opportunities. It discusses how fintech is rapidly transforming the financial sector landscape and blurring the boundaries of financial firms and the sector more widely, resulting in a paradigm shift that has various policy implications. The importance of broadening monitoring horizons and reassessing the role of financial regulation in this new landscape is also considered.Covering a wide range of areas in finance, this book is a collection of scientific articles and case studies from a variety of countries. It is suitable for anyone interested in understanding the impact of fintech on green investment, offering valuable insights into how the transformative power of fintech can be harnessed to create a sustainable future.

Green finance plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable development by mobilizing financial resources toward environmentally sustainable projects. It enables the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy, which is essential for achieving global climate goals. Green Finance and Sustainable Development Goals explores how, by aligning financial investments with sustainable development objectives, green finance can contribute to the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The first part of the book examines the connection between climate change and green finance in emerging markets and developing countries, with a particular focus on the impact of globalization and financial development on climate change. The second part of the book focuses on environmental disclosure, standards, and their relevance, with a specific focus on how European countries have implemented green finance to support sustainable development and achieve climate goals. In the third and final part of the book, the authors discuss green finance and sustainable development goals from a global perspective, examining the role of finance and renewable energy transition in supporting sustainable economic development, and how this can be applied to green recovery post-COVID-19.The book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the relationship between green finance and sustainable development goals, offering insights and potential solutions for researchers, investors, and policymakers. It also includes real-life case studies, empirical analyses, and policy recommendations from scholars around the world, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding and addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainable finance in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic undeniably wreaked havoc on global trade, profoundly affecting people's lives and having a significant impact on economic growth worldwide. Many people regard COVID-19 as "the fury of nature." However, even during the context, and now aftermath, of the pandemic there are still ongoing critical problems facing the world that have not cooled down - one of which is climate change. The recent unusual and extreme weather conditions have thrust climate change into the media limelight and to the forefront of the public agenda. Nowadays, climate change receives special attention from many organizations, countries and governments worldwide because of its profound influence on the global economy and people's lives. Natural disasters and prolonged drought can destroy infrastructure; threaten crops, food production, as well as human life; and lead to mass migration. The effects of climate change are evident everywhere globally and appear to be more severe than ever before.Handbook of Environmental and Green Finance contains conceptual, empirical, and policy papers that provide an insightful and timely read for researchers, investors, and policymakers interested in sustainable finance, development finance, and alternative finance to combat climate change. Throughout this book, readers are offered a global analysis of the current state of the sustainable finance sector and provided with potential solutions to address obstacles in this field.

This book presents a comprehensive coverage of smart structures, from the basic concepts to a wide spectrum of critical applications, including piezoelectric-based sensors, actuators, and self-sensing actuators. Throughout the book, attempts have been made to develop electrical analogies of the structural/piezoelectric interactions.The book is organized into seven chapters. The first three chapters cover the basic concepts of structural dynamics, control, piezoelectric actuators, and piezoelectric sensors. The following four chapters cover a wide range of important applications in active vibration control, passive shunted piezoelectric networks, comprehensive piezoelectric energy harvesting technology, and piezoelectric-based periodic and metamaterial structures. Every chapter concludes with several problems.

How did a journalist find out who was responsible for bombing hospitals in Syria from his desk in New York? How can South Sudanese monitors safely track and detail the weapons in their communities and make sure that global audiences take notice? How do researchers in London coordinate worldwide work uncovering global corruption? What are policy-makers, lawyers, and intelligence agencies doing to keep up with and make use of these activities?In the age of Google, threats to human security are being tracked in completely new ways. Human rights abuses, political violence, nuclear weapons, corruption, radicalization, and conflict are all being monitored, analyzed, and documented. Although open source investigations are neither easy to conduct nor straightforward to apply, with diligence and effort, societies, agencies, and individuals have the potential to use them to strengthen security.This interdisciplinary book presents 18 original chapters by prize-winning practitioners, experts, and rising stars, detailing what open source investigations are and how they are carried out, and examining the opportunities and challenges they present to global transparency, accountability and justice. It is essential reading for current and future digital investigators, journalists, and scholars of global governance, international relations and humanitarian law, as well as anyone interested in the possibilities and dangers of this new field.