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International Studies & Diplomacy (CISD)

Regional resources

Africa
Regions

Africa Subject GuideMiddle East and Central Asia Subject Guide (for North Africa & Egypt

SOAS databases:

Africa Bibliography
This is an authoritative guide to works in African studies published under the auspices of the International African Institute annually since 1984.

Africa Wide-NiPAD
Provides single point access to over 40 databases. Records come from books, periodical articles and pamphlets. Databases included are:

  • IBISCUS (1970 to present) a development database on francophone Africa
  • Knipkat from the Nasionale Afrikaanse Letterkunde Museum en Navorsingsentrum (NALN) an index of press cuttings from newspapers and magazines relating to Afrikaans.
  • The Southern African Database (Sardius) (1961-1997) database of 34,000+ annotated records.
  • Index to South African Periodicals (1987-present) covers more than 440 South African periodicals.

AllAfrica.com
Contains an Africa related news archive; with content from over 100 media organizations.

General Resources:

AEGIS - African Studies in Europe
AEGIS is a research network of European African studies centres, and aims to facilitate dialogue between all those with an interest in Africa.

African Studies Association (ASA)
Brings together scholars and professionals with an interest in Africa and also provides information to the Africanist community.

Country Indicators for Foreign Policy
Monitors and evaluates failed and fragile states, and assesses policies intended to address the challenges they represent.

Mo Ibrahim Foundation 
Considers governance and leadership in Africa and includes the Ibrahim Index of African Governance which provides an annual assessment of governance performance in Africa

East Asia (China, Japan & Korea)
Regions

China Subject GuideJapan Subject GuideKorea Subject Guide

China
SOAS Databases:

Bibliography of Asian Studies 
Index of Western language monographs, journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings and anthologies on all parts of Asia published since 1971

China Academic Journals 
Full-text access to over 1,000 Chinese language journals.

General Resources:

Association of Chinese Political Studies
Academic research association based in the United States which seeks to promote and coordinate research among individuals and institutions concerned with the study of all aspects of Chinese politics

Japan and Korea
SOAS Databases:

Bibliography of Asian Studies
Index of Western language monographs, journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings and anthologies on all parts of Asia published since 1971.

A-Z Korean Language Databases

This lists all the Korean language databases SOAS has access to - many providing access to relevant secondary sources.

A-Z Japanese Language Databases

This lists all the Japanese language databases SOAS has access to - many providing access to relevant secondary sources.

General Resources:

Japan Guide (Politics)Portal site of Official Statistics of Japan

Middle East and Central Asia
Regions

The Middle East & Central Asia Subject Guide

SOAS Databases:

Brill Online Reference Works
Access to reference works: Brill's New Pauly, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Encyclopaedia of Judaism, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān; as well as Index Islamicus.

Index Islamicus 
Bibliographic database of books and journal articles published about Islam or the Muslim world since 1906.

Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies (MECAS) 
Bibliographic database, which provides access to a wide range of material relating to the study of the countries and peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa.

General Resources:

AL-BAB
This site provides a collection of articles and outside links on a wide range of topics related to Middle East studies. The site's sections include: country briefings for the 22 members of the Arab League; news; reference; and collections of links and articles on specific topics. Along with coverage of political and economic issues. 

Palestine Remix
Palestine Remix is the largest interactive-visual project on ​modern ​Palestine. ​Dozens of documentaries on Palestine are available on this open-source free website, allowing users to watch extracts, read about the films and watch the full documentaries with their transcripts. It allows users to search for any Palestine-related keyword within the documentaries transcripts, and each of the search results will immediately take them to the exact point where that word is mentioned in both video and text. Another unique feature of Palestine Remix is the users’ ability to create their own video remixes on any Palestine-related topic, by choosing any part they want from the available documentaries and stitching the chosen parts together to make their own short films. Palestine Remix is available in four languages: English, Arabic, Bosnian and Turkish. So, each documentary is available in these four languages. Maps, drone footages and a timeline are also available on Palestine Remix

South Asia
Regions

South Asia Subject Guide

SOAS Databases:

Bibliography of Asian Studies 
Index of Western language monographs, journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings and anthologies on all parts of Asia published since 1971.

General Resources:

Manas : India and its neighbours
A UCLA site providing information on politics, history, religion, diaspora, social and cultural issues relating to India and South Asia.

South East Asia
Regions

South East Asia Subject Guide

SOAS Databases:

Bibliography of Asian Studies 
Index of Western language monographs, journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings and anthologies on all parts of Asia published since 1971.

General Resources:

The Asia/Pacific Research Center publications
Publications from the Asia/Pacific Research Center, Institute for International Studies, Stanford University.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
ASEAN was established in 1967. The objectives of ASEAN is to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to promote regional peace and stability.

Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC)
APEC is the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and practical economic co-operation. Its goal is to advance Asia-Pacific economic dynamism and sense of community.

Association of South-East Asian Studies UK (ASEASUK)
ASEASUK is a leading organisation of Southeast Asianists in the UK. Most members are academics specializing in the region from more than 30 universities and covering a range of disciplines.

Council on Southeast Asia Studies (Yale University)
Aims to facilitate training of top quality graduate and undergraduate students, and to promote research and teaching on all aspects of the cultures, politics and economies of Southeast Asia.

UK

UK Parliament: Official parliamentary information and papers, including modern day Hansards and committee reports.Legislation.gov.uk for UK legislation.Democracy Live: BBC video coverage, live and recorded, of Westminster and regional assembly activitiesThe National Archives: Official national paper and digital archive of the UK government, and for England and WalesEuropean Union

Europa: Official EU portal, giving access to institutions, policies, laws, statistics and official publicationsOpen Europe: Analysis and commentary by independent think tank on EU institutional and policy matters.

United States

Congress.gov: Official information and documentation relating to the activities of the US Federal legislature.The White House: News, policies and pronouncements direct from the US executive branch of government.US Government Printing Office: Access to Federal publications through FDsys and the Catalog of US Government publications

Country-Level Information

EIU CountryData contains over 280 variables, divided into the following major categories: Gross domestic product, Fiscal and monetary indicators, Demographics and income, Foreign payments, External debt stock, External debt service, External trade, Quarterly, and for some countries, Monthly indicators. Covering 150 countries, this powerful database contains more than a million individual data points-covering over 280 series and running from 1980 to 2008. Updated monthly. This is a product by The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper. Only some of the content is free.

UK Data Service is a comprehensive source of data, covering key economic and social data, both quantitative and qualitative. Including World Development Indicators, OECD, ILO, IMF and UN data.

CIA World Factbook provides basic country level data produced for US policymakers and coordinated throughout the US Intelligence Community.

BBC News Country Profiles provide basic information on topics such as press freedom and key events, alongside audio and video clips from BBC archives.

UN Data contains lots of UN metrics for different countries- ranging from agricultural production to the World Statistics Pocketbook.

Global Edge Insights by Country statistical data for nearly every country around the world. In addition to statistics, historical, economic, and political conditions are available.

A M Best is a global credit rating agency with a unique focus on the insurance industry. They produce free short briefing papers about the various risks of investing in countries

Coface a French company specialising in export credit insurance, provides limited economic data for countries- including the option to run a brief comparison.