Middle East and Islamic Studies
New at Brill in Open Access: Encyclopædia Iranica Online
Encyclopaedia Iranica is the most renowned reference work in the field of Iran studies. Founded by the late Professor Ehsan Yarshater and edited at the Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University, this monumental international project brings together the scholarship about Iran of thousands of authors around the world.
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Sign upEncyclopædia Iranica Online Now Freely Accessible at Brill
The Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University, New York, and Brill are delighted to announce that the Encyclopædia Iranica Online is now freely accessible at Brill’s Reference Works Platform. Encyclopædia Iranica is the comprehensive academic reference work dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
Ancient Iran Series Added to Brill’s Publishing Portfolio
As part of their growing portfolio in Middle East and Islamic Studies, Brill has signed an agreement for the take-over of the book series Ancient Iran Series. With its coverage of ancient, pre-, and early-Islamic Iran, this book series complements other book series with a more modern focus on this geographical area, as well as the various other journals and encyclopaedias Brill publishes in this field.
Read an interview with Geert Jan van Gelder
The longstanding series Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1: The Near and Middle East recently reached its 150th volume by publishing the special Prominent Murder Victims of the Pre- and Early Islamic Periods Including the Names of Murdered Poets. We caught up with Geert Jan van Gelder, editor and translator of the volume.
Acquisitions Editors
Brill
Maurits van den Boogert
Nicolette van der Hoek
Abdurraouf Oueslati
Teddi Dols
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Jehona Kicaj
Middle East and Islamic Studies
The various political factions represented in the power-sharing government, inaugurated in June 2003, preserved an uneasy coexistence. The prospect of holding elections in June 2005, scheduled to end the transition period, appeared increasingly remote by year's end. None of the political challenges facing the country was even close to being met, including the disarmament and reintegration of combatants, the creation of a new integrated national army and the drawing up of legislation essential to an orderly wrapping-up of the transition. The transition from war to peace in the country tottered on the verge of collapse throughout the year due to renewed clashes in the country's Kivu provinces, the massacre of Banyamulenge refugees in Burundi, the (temporary) withdrawal of Vice-President Ruberwa from the transitional government, the continued presence of Rwandan Hutu rebels in Eastern Congo and the repeated threats of a new military intervention by Rwanda.
Given the poor performance of the transitional government, the political situation in the DR Congo remained tense and precarious throughout the year. Due to a mixture of unwillingness and incapacity, the government failed to tackle the tough challenges that were critical for the successful conclusion of the transitional period. As a result, Congo's peace process remained far from assured. Amid popular protests, the post-conflict elections scheduled for 2005 were deferred to 2006.
The long-awaited presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections, the first democratic polls in over four decades, were the main focus of attention for both domestic and foreign actors. Against many odds, the elections took place in a fairly peaceful and orderly manner. As had been widely expected, incumbent Joseph Kabila was elected as the head of state. Although the electoral process was an extremely remarkable achievement, its completion did not alter the fact that the war-ravaged country continued to face enormous challenges in terms of peace-building, security and socioeconomic recovery.
Following last year's elections, a democratic government under the leadership of Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga was formed. Lacking coherence and vision, the unwieldy government remained paralysed and failed to take steps to consolidate the hard-won progress in the DR Congo over the preceding two years. The year was characterised by two major setbacks: first, the heavy fighting in the capital of Kinshasa in March between troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila and the guards of former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. In the wake of the Kinshasa battle, Bemba fled into exile. The second setback was the resurgence of war in eastern Congo's North Kivu province between the government army and the armed group of former rebel commander Laurent Nkunda. It ended in a humiliating defeat for the army and the displacement of 400,000 civilians in North Kivu.
The year was dominated by the escalation in North Kivu of violence between the rebel army of Laurent Nkunda and a disintegrating national army. The fighting, which sparked a huge humanitarian emergency, was the continuation of an armed conflict that had persisted on and off since the end of the 2006 election cycle. It dashed the hopes for a peaceful resolution of the conflicts in the Kivu provinces that had stirred in January, when a major peace conference took place in Goma. Shortly before the renewed fighting erupted, Prime Minister Gizenga handed in his resignation in September. He was replaced by Minister of Budget Adolphe Muzito. The little progress that had been made to jump-start the economy was wiped out when the effects of the global financial crisis took their toll on Congo's mining sector.
Celebrating his third year in office after his election victory in 2006, President Joseph Kabila had few achievements to show as peace and reconstruction made slow progress at best. However, political events were dominated by a breath-taking turnaround in relations between Rwanda and Congo, which held the promise of bringing some form of peace to eastern Congo. The rebel movement ‘Conseil National pour la Défense du Peuple’ (CNDP) struck a deal with the government after its chairman had been ousted. In a closely related development, Kinshasa invited the Rwandan army back to Congo to join the fight against the Rwandan rebels of the ‘Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda’ (FDLR).