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
The record of African-European relations in 2007 was mixed. On the one hand, the first Africa-EU summit in seven years took place, but on the other there was mounting dissatisfaction among African leaders with EU policy – not least on trade – and with what was denounced as the EU's “patronising attitude”. There was a renewed geostrategic interest in Africa on the part not least of China and the US – but also increasingly by India and others. These changes in Africa's global importance had an impact on European-African relations by increasing the policy space available to African leaders. Pressure was mounting on Europe to (re)direct its policies.
The government again used the Angolan political economy to consolidate its power. The presidency continued through its vast patronage network to ensure dominance, despite little improvement in the condition of the people. Angola's massive oil revenues, high oil prices, economic growth, access to Chinese and commercial loans, invulnerability to outside or internal pressure plus good relations with the US continued to afford it a good deal of autonomy. Inflation was the lowest in decades. Angola sought to improve its world standing and overcome its reputation for lack of transparency, corruption and military meddling in neighbouring countries. It sees itself as a regional player between Nigeria and Pretoria/Tshwane. Although Angola became China's biggest oil supplier, relations with Beijing cooled off somewhat.
President Yayi Boni was able to continue his policy aimed at structural economic reform, economic growth and the elimination of corruption after his political movement won the legislative elections. These had to be postponed once due to organisational problems in the electoral commission. Benin strengthened its economic structure and its economic performance improved slightly. However, some difficulties were encountered in the restructuring and privatisation of the telecom and cotton sectors. In his urgent search for economic partnerships and development funds, Yayi Boni also actively continued with his outward-looking foreign policy by increasing the number of presidential visits abroad and by receiving foreign ministers and heads of state at home.
Botswana continued to enjoy political stability. Preparations by the government and the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to transfer power from President Mogae to Vice President Ian Khama went smoothly, while the opposition remained divided. Doubts emerged whether the government was willing to abide by the high court ruling in favour of the San in 2006, when the court had declared their relocation from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) to be unlawful. While diamond production remained the engine of economic growth, HIV/AIDS continued to threaten socioeconomic development.
National Assembly elections, the 20th anniversary of the 1987 coup and protest rallies dominated the political scene. President Blaise Compaoré, who remained the most powerful political figure, strengthened his legal power base by winning overwhelming support in the parliamentary polls. He continued his policy of improving his sub-regional diplomatic standing and underlined his supreme power by undertaking a prudent cabinet reshuffle. However, protests by the security forces continued, further challenging the image of a neatly organised and stable society. Economic growth rates were respectable, but public perception was negative due to the rising cost of living as well as poor education and health services. The negative demographic and ecological impacts on development became more marked.
The recent trend towards increasing authoritarianism in the government continued. Corruption at high levels remained a source of internal and external friction. The most decisive political event was the deposition and arrest of the president of the ruling party, Hussein Radjabu, which precipitated a deep split in the ‘Conseil National pour la Défense de la Démocratie-Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie’ (CNDD-FDD). This left the country's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, without a majority in parliament for most of the year, since both main opposition parties ‘Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi’ (FRODEBU) and ‘Union pour le Progrès National’ (UPRONA) refused to support him and boycotted the government. The virtual political standstill was only overcome by the creation of a coalition government in November. Although the ceasefire agreement with the last remaining rebel movement ‘Parti pour la Libération du Peuple Hutu – Forces Nationales pour la Libération’ (Palipehutu-FNL) remained in force, no final peace agreement was reached and the resumed negotiations remained inconclusive. Burundi's admission into the EAC offered a new foreign policy perspective. The economic performance remained unsatisfactory and disappointed all expectations of improvement in socioeconomic conditions.
The position of President Paul Biya, who celebrated his 25-year hold on power during 2007, was reinforced by the overwhelming victory of the ruling party in the July legislative and municipal elections. There was growing evidence that he might use the ruling party's two-thirds majority in parliament to enact constitutional amendments to remove the two-term presidential limit, thereby allowing himself to stand for another term of office. While his government succeeded in meeting most of the quantitative targets under the current PRGF, especially those related to fiscal performance, it failed to fulfil the heightened popular expectations for an improvement in the precarious living conditions following last year's substantial debt relief.
Brussels granted Cape Verde special partnership status with the EU, while the UN confirmed the country's formal graduation to Medium Developed Country (MDC) status with effect from January 2008. At home, a dispute between the ruling ‘Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde’ (PAICV) and the opposition ‘Movimento para a Democracia’ (MpD) on the composition of the electoral commission delayed the electoral census. In the economy, the tourism sector continued to attract huge foreign investments and supported strong economic growth.
The sub-region remained as unstable as ever, with the Chad, Central African Republic (CAR) and Darfur/Sudan triangle forming a large zone of permanent insecurity. After a rather positive year in 2006, the eastern part of DR Congo was again in the news for its numerous armed encounters and human rights abuses. Economically, the year was not bad for the sub-region as a whole, as most states were oil-exporting countries and could profit from price hikes on the world market. However, the sub-region still faced serious problems related to the unequal distribution of wealth.
The imminent deployment of Western peacekeepers to neighbouring Sudan attracted more attention than ever to the permanent crisis in the CAR. This attention translated into more development assistance, debt rescheduling and diplomatic activities. Rebels in the northeast attacked the provincial capital Birao but were pushed back with French support. The government signed two separate agreements with rebel groups. However, in the north a less well organised rebellion continued in the form of sporadic attacks, resulting in brutal retaliation by the army.