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
A couple of West African countries experienced military take-overs in 2021. Presidential elections took place in some countries under conditions that did not guarantee free and fair elections and thus resulted in recriminations and dispute. The Covid-19 pandemic wrought more havoc than in the previous year due to new and highly transmissible and virulent variants of the virus that accounted for high infection rates and fatalities. The acquisition of vaccines and the vaccination of more people, coupled with border closures and impositions of travel restrictions, helped to curtail the damage. By the end of the year, there was evidence that the emergency was easing. Economies were badly affected, but nevertheless some countries’ economies rebounded, and some began to record positive growth rates. There was no let-up in jihadist and insurrectionist activities, which continued to beset some Sahelian states, aggravating displacement and creating serious problems both for those made into refugees and the states that hosted them.
West Africa faced severe challenges and demonstrated remarkable resilience at the same time during the year under review. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian–Ukrainian war, and instability emanating from the activities of jihadist groups in the Sahel region continued to undermine collective and individual efforts to secure a living. The year under review also witnessed a number of elections in the sub-region and the stagnation of corruption perceptions. Fights against corruption, drug trafficking, human rights violations, and continuous violence, conflict, and disasters used up state resources and capacity which could otherwise have been used to promote socioeconomic development. However, the economies of member states in the sub-region also showed a level of flexibility, recovery, and growth, at least in some instances. Most of these achievements and set-backs were underpinned by domestic and international political factors worthy of attention.
The West African sub-region was troubled with instability as a result of violence orchestrated by various insurgent and jihadist groups as well as military overthrow of constitutionally elected governments. These incidents imposed humanitarian and economic challenges on states within the region. Notwithstanding these identifiable challenges, several states in the region held presidential, parliamentary, and local-level elections to choose their political leaders, validating the strong conviction that democracy is the only game in town. Economies within the sub-region tumbled in some countries while others recorded marginal or even substantial growth, bolstered by either the increase in prices of natural resources in the global market or increased borrowing to offset balance-of-payments deficits. Both the au and ecowas were busy in the year under review, addressing the military coups and instability in the Sahel region. A significant fallout from this crisis was the abandonment of France by its formal colonies and the welcoming of Russia as the new economic and security partner.