North Africa

Regardless of who enters Carthage Palace in January, a free and fair election will represent an achievement worthy of international recognition.

Even as Rabat sends delegations abroad to garner support for its security programs, the question remains: Why is Morocco one of the largest sources of IS fighters in the Arab world?

Islam's growing role in the military is likely part of an ideological battle to reclaim the spiritual mantle from the Muslim Brotherhood, but manipulating religion for political gain has a history of backfiring in Egypt.

A local jihadist group has claimed a Libyan city in the name of ISIS, showing how the "Islamic State" could flout traditional notions of territorial contiguity by expanding its "borders" well beyond Iraq and Syria.

Through its choice of new leadership and other actions, the group is displaying an ideological stubbornness that may threaten its long-term viability.

As Libya's steep descent continues, its claim to sovereignty is becoming increasingly tenuous, so further acts of intervention by other countries in the region are likely.

A coalition of like-minded Arab states -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates -- is emerging to confront militant Islamism.

Amid deterioration in Libya and militant attacks in Egypt's Western Desert, resuming U.S. military aid to Cairo is more crucial than ever.

Across the Middle East, a critical question for regimes and peoples alike is "Are Islamists rising or fading?" Egypt under President al-Sisi is one story; Iraq and Syria facing the ISIS challenge is another. In Morocco, the banned but highly influential Islamist opposition group al-Adl wal-Ihsan (Justice and Benevolence) is