North Africa

Policy Analysis on North Africa

The Most Important Nobel Winner You've Never Heard Of

The Nobel Committee rightfully recognized the strong civil society institutions that mediated Tunisia's difficult political transition at a time when other regional states were falling into chaos.

Oct 13, 2015

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Sarah Feuer

Articles & Testimony

Fall of the Brotherhood, Rise of the Salafis

Comparing the recent rhetoric, actions, and outreach styles of Muslim Brothers and Salafis provides insight into their current reversals of fortune.

Oct 11, 2015

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Jacob Olidort

Articles & Testimony

Dismissal of Algerian Intelligence Chief: A New Phase in Algerian History?

General Toufik's departure could end the contest of wills between the intelligence and political leadership, but Algeria's democratic transition will likely remain on the back burner amid dire economic and security concerns.

Oct 2, 2015

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Yacine Boudhane

Brief Analysis

Egypt's Elections (Part 2): Salafis Use Education to Campaign

Amid growing public concern about their ideological associations with ISIS, Salafist political parties and their 'quietist' critics have been using students and educational institutions as a pulpit for questioning each other's legitimacy.

Sep 30, 2015

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Jacob Olidort

Brief Analysis

Egypt's Elections (Part 1): Al-Nour Goes on the Defensive

Recognizing the recent threats to its ideology, the Salafist Nour Party seems bent on maximizing its prospects in the upcoming elections by downplaying its doctrinal rigidity, holding onto its constituents, and expanding its popular support base.

Sep 28, 2015

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Jacob Olidort

Articles & Testimony

Arabic in Algeria: Identity Tainted by Politics

Amid continuing debate over school curricula, Francophone and Islamist movements are both exploiting language issues to further their political agendas, while the government attempts to distract the public from dire economic problems.

Sep 18, 2015

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Yacine Boudhane

Brief Analysis

Local Elections in Morocco: A Bet on the Kingdom's Reforms

Three upcoming rounds of local and upper house elections will test the reform process launched in the wake of Morocco's Arab Spring.

Sep 2, 2015

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Sarah Feuer

Brief Analysis

Egyptian Offshore Gas Find Curtails Israel's Options

The major discovery is good news for Egypt but will likely impede Israel's much-delayed plans to exploit and export its own offshore reserves.

Aug 31, 2015

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Simon Henderson

In-Depth Reports

Morocco: Prospects for Civil Society

This second chapter in the essay series Beyond Islamists and Autocrats examines the increasingly influential role played by civil society organizations in Morocco's push for rights reforms.

Aug 27, 2015

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Vish Sakthivel

Brief Analysis

Securing the Sinai MFO Without a U.S. Drawdown

The Obama administration should dispel the current uncertainty over the MFO's future by conferring with Egypt and Israel about how best to secure the peacekeepers, and by improving counterterrorism coordination in the Sinai.

Aug 26, 2015

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Eric Trager

Fikra Forum

An Egyptian American View on Israel

An Egyptian student reflects on how living and studying in Israel helped reshape everything he had been taught about 'the enemy.'

Aug 13, 2015

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Haisam Hassanein

Brief Analysis

The Islamic State's Burgeoning Capital in Sirte, Libya

Although ISL lost in Darnah, it has emerged even stronger in Sirte by building on existing jihadist networks in the area and ramping up its state-building activities.

Aug 6, 2015

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Aaron Y. Zelin

Brief Analysis

Resumption of U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue

Cairo and Washington both see the upcoming dialogue as a means of signaling that political disagreements will not torpedo the core relationship anytime soon.

Jul 31, 2015

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Eric Trager
Eitan Sayag

Articles & Testimony

Egypt's Durable Misery: Why Sisi's Regime Is Stable

Despite the risk of instability posed by ongoing violence, the government's anti-Brotherhood focus is still a political winner and will likely remain so for some time.

Jul 21, 2015

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Eric Trager

Articles & Testimony

Tunisia's Fragile Democratic Transition

The government can move past the recent terrorist attacks and other struggles, but not if it falls back on arbitrary arrests, opaque investigations, or other tactics that failed during the Ben Ali era.

Jul 14, 2015

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Aaron Y. Zelin

Articles & Testimony

The Umbrellas of Sousse

Three summers ago, as a graduate student living in Tunisia, I took a break from my research and spent a long weekend on the beach in a resort town called Hammamet, protected from the hot sun by one of the many colorful umbrellas that dotted the sand. Hammamet sits roughly

Jul 6, 2015

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Sarah Feuer

Articles & Testimony

The Tunisian-Libyan Jihadi Connection

A relationship that dates back decades deserves closer attention, and could well lead to repeat Islamic State attacks on Tunisian soil.

Jul 6, 2015

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Aaron Y. Zelin

Articles & Testimony

Egyptian Assassinations and Islamist Escalation

Following the latest high-profile assassination, tensions between Islamists and the state will likely continue to escalate, with the judiciary looming large in both the government's response and further Islamist plots.

Jul 2, 2015

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Mohammed Soliman

Articles & Testimony

Back to the Bad Old Days

Terrorism is taking root along the banks of the Nile, threatening to plunge Egypt into another lost decade.

Jun 23, 2015

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David Schenker

In-Depth Reports

Post-Jasmine Tunisia

One of the more dramatic Arab Spring plotlines has been the rapid turn of fortune for Islamist movements throughout the region. If the tumult of 2011 initially paved the way for Islamist parties to assume power in places like Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco, by 2014 the pendulum had swung decidedly

Jun 10, 2015

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Sarah Feuer

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Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics

The Washington Institute's Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics focuses on social, political, and economic developments in the Arab world, with an emphasis on the Arab countries of the Levant.

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Robert Satloff

Robert Satloff is the Segal Executive Director of The Washington Institute, a post he assumed in January 1993.

Ben Fishman

Ben Fishman is the Steven D. Levy Senior Fellow in the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, where he focuses on North Africa.

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