A Letter from the Editors
Dear Readers,
It is our pleasure to present to you the latest issue of al Nakhlah, Fletcher’s online journal of Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization. We have selected the best writing at Fletcher on these subjects, and the result is an wide-ranging, interdisciplinary collection of excellent essays on Afghan customary law; religion and conflict in Chechnya; Iran’s role in Iraq; education in Qatar and Saudi Arabia; Iranian intellectual AbdolKarim Soroush; and Yemeni anti-terrorism laws. There is also an interview with Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a first for al Nakhlah.
We would like to thank all those who submitted essays for consideration; our contributors for their superb cooperation during the editing process; the invaluable, insightful Hess and his assistant Bernie Kelley-Leccese for all their help and guidance; Leslie Kuechenmeister for her oversight; former editors Pamela Beecroft and Assaf Moghadam for leaving us such an excellent and well-designed publication; and especially Sheikh Mansoor, whose vision and sponsorship make al Nakhlah possible.
Finally, a small note about a correction we’ve made to bring our publication schedule in line with the academic calendar: from now on, al Nakhlah’s Spring issue will appear in March and its fall issue in September.
We hope you enjoy al Nakhlah,
Sincerely,
The Editors
Daniel Benaim, Jonathan Thomas, and Geoffrey Gresh
Current Issue
- A Conversation with Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith
- Lessons Form the Interior: Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Syria
- Rising in the Gulf: How China's Energy Demands Are Transforming the Middle East
- Hamas: Pragmatic Ideology
- Constructing a Legal Case Against Iran’s Nuclear Right to Enrich within the International Court of Justice
- Color Evolution: NGOs and Oligarchs Unite for Change in Kyrgyzstan
- The Tigris-Euphrates River Basin: Mediating a Path Towards Regional Water Stability
- Review of The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood by Rashid Khalidi
Archives
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in articles are strictly the author's own, and do not necessarily represent those of Al Nakhlah, its Advisory and Editorial Boards, or the Program for Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization (SWAIC) at The Fletcher School.



