Our Strategy & Call for Papers
By The Fletcher Forum Executive Board
Dear Forum Readers,
The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs is pleased to present a new set of guidelines for submissions to our various publications as part of our new strategy, “Toward Ideas and Influence.”
In 2022, The Forum acknowledges an urgent need for a pragmatic approach to international affairs discourse. This approach recognizes a desire for an information hub to which policy makers can turn for a clear understanding of the latest ideas and innovations of academic pursuit. As such, The Forum reintroduces itself as a foreign policy journal which platforms thought-provoking analysis by world-leading scholars, practitioners, and experts, aimed at a broad audience of policy-makers, and the general public.
Each print edition will present a series of 20 to 25 analytical essays on a particular issue or set of issues of crucial importance to the current day and our shared global future. While these essays will maintain the academic rigor of past Forum editions, they will be presented in semi-formal, concise, digestible form, providing decision-makers of multiple levels of States and society access to the modern debates of international affairs. In line with this new format, these essays will prioritize clear, straightforward language. Indeed, more formal, technical analysis will be left to other, traditional peer-reviewed publications. The print edition will also continue to publish its perspectives and book review sections, the former which allows a diverse array of global actors to offer reflections, opinions, and recommendations about contemporary issues, usually based on emerging evidence and personal experience; the latter offers informed critiques of recently released books that deal with international affairs.
Notably, these particular kinds of articles are not new to The Forum, and in fact have been some of the most successful and influential pieces it has published. Therefore, the publication endeavors now to capitalize on this success and concretize the analytical essay as its feature length.
The web edition of The Forum presents short form, journalistic and opinion articles that concern current events and the latest issues of international affairs outside of the print edition. The podcast series complements the themes of the print and web editions with organic interviews of scholars, practitioners, and experts, from within and outside The Fletcher School’s community. Both web and podcast editions continue to highlight the cutting-edge research and advocacy work of The Fletcher School, whose mission to which The Forum remains dedicated.
For complete guidance on submissions, including word count and empirical motivation, please visit our Submissions page.
With this strategic foundation, we announce our Call for Papers for our Summer 2022 print edition:
Manuscripts will be reviewed on topics which address:
Contemporary Armed Conflict
Contemporary armed conflicts defy traditional frameworks. They no longer concern only state actors—or even traditional “rebel groups”—nor do they occur within clear territorial boundaries. Armed groups increasingly find themselves trapped in decades-long states of “no war, no peace.” In the absence of clear frameworks for addressing modern-day armed conflict, The Forum asks in its Summer 2022 edition: What frameworks best characterize modern armed conflict? How can we better understand the nature, means, and methods of armed conflict? Moving forward, what are some promising mechanisms for resolving and/or preventing armed conflict?
Sub-themes include:
Old/New Wars, Peace Processes,
Civil and Transnational Wars,
Post-Conflict Reconstruction,
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding,
Conflict Analysis,
Security and Security Sector Reform,
International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law,
International Interventions, and
New Technologies.
The Fletcher Forum encourages gendered, post-colonial, and other critical viewpoints on all of the above questions and sub-themes.
Submissions may be either Features (3,000-4,500 words) or Perspectives (1,200-3,000 words). Please include an abstract and brief biography and adhere to the 17th Chicago Manual of Style. The deadline for submissions for the Summer 2022 issue will be March 15, 2022.
Please send submissions and any questions to Fletcher.forum@gmail.com. Again, for full information on submissions to our print and web editions, visit http://fletcherforum.org/submissions.
Kind Regards,
The Fletcher Forum Executive Board
