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Policy Analysis on North Africa

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Tracking Libya's Nuclear Activities

Besides dismantling a dangerous program, the IAEA's efforts in Libya may also expose the international network of nuclear cooperation that enabled this infrastructure to develop as far as it has.

Articles & Testimony

Algerian Operations Compress Islamist Insurgency

While all eyes are focused on Iraq and Afghanistan,the Islamist insurgency in Algeria is witnessing a period of rapid evolution caused by the increasing sophistication of government counterinsurgency (COIN) operations, and adaptation on the part of the insurgent groups. The government is steadily incorporating intelligence,surveillance, and reconnaissance assets and precision

Michael Knights

Countering Algerian Terror:

Increased U.S. Involvement?

U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs William Burns visited Algeria on October 25-26, just days after a new Algerian terrorist organization was added to the Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). The visit also came amid reports that several Algerian groups with al-Qaeda ties

Jonathan Schanzer

Articles & Testimony

Fighting on All Fronts

A recent State Department security warning urged all Americans abroad to make sure their cars have a full tank of gas. The message itself was odd: Is there really a Foggy Bottom office responsible for the level of petrol in every expatriate's gas tank? But the emphasis on prevention was

Robert Satloff

Algeria's GSPC and America's 'War on Terror'

Last week, intensified Islamist violence prompted Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to launch his military's largest counteroffensive against radical Islamic elements in five years. The target of this ongoing operation is the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a breakaway faction of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). GSPC deserves special

Jonathan Schanzer

Articles & Testimony

When Politics Trumps Principles

Last month, a court sentenced a 21-year-old woman to be blinded for assaulting a man who was sexually harassing her. Taliban-style justice is alive and well in Iran. Similar atrocities occur daily in Iraq, Sudan, and the Palestinian Authority, the very regimes Europe's Left seeks to engage. While self-described peace

Post-Lockerbie Judgment, What Next for U.S.-Libya Relations?

As the Bush administration seeks to define its policy on the Middle East, Libya has emerged in the high drama of the U.S. war against terrorism. A Scottish appeals court yesterday upheld the conviction of former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight

Ray Takeyh

Articles & Testimony

As we walked along Timbuktu's sandy streets, past mud mosques and houses, warm winds from the Sahara whipped dust over the city, obscuring the sun and stinging my eyes. The wind did not bother my guide Muhammad, however. He wore sunglasses and a turban, shielding himself from sun, sand, and

Articles & Testimony

"Anyone who thinks Islam is a religion of peace has never been to the Sudan," said the county commissioner in Malual Kon, a small village nestled among farms and swampy grassland about ten miles from the front line of the country's civil war. There, where Christians and animists have spent

Articles & Testimony

Sudan Hides Its Regime of Terror behind a Mask of Diplomacy

For five years, Osama bin Laden made his home in Sudan. Five years on, the country remains a safe haven not only for the al-Qa'eda organisation, but also for Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Egyptian terrorist organisation al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Yet, Sudan has played its diplomatic cards exceptionally well since September

In the War against Terrorism, Where Goes Sudan?

With attention focused on the bombings against Afghanistan, the most radical change in U.S. policy toward any other Muslim state since September 11 has been the accelerated rapprochement between the United States and Sudan, a country that hosted Osama bin Laden between 1991 and 1996. The quickly warming relations between

Libya's Confident Defiance and ILSA

The arraignment Friday of Brian Regan, an employee of the National Reconnaissance Office, on charges of espionage for Libya, once more places Colonel Mu'ammar Qaddafi's domain on the front pages. The secrets sold to Libya may have included information about American satellite over-flights which have in the past been able

Ray Takeyh

Popular Unrest in Algeria:

A Significant Challenge to Stability

Embattled by popular protests for more than two months, the Algerian government -- in advance of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's historic July 12 White House visit -- faces the most significant challenge to its authority in nearly a decade. Defying a recent government ban on protest marches, the Berber-led opposition has

Libya after Lockerbie:

Internal Dynamics and U.S. Policy

Currently Libya enjoys unprecedented economic stability, especially marked when compared to the economic difficulties it experienced in the 1990s. Oil income is now slightly higher and foreign investment is flowing in, and the gross domestic product (GDP) was up 6.5 percent in 2000. This economic calm has had a direct

Ray Takeyh

Articles & Testimony

Despite Pan Am Verdict, Libya Is Still a Threat

After 12 years of legal and political maneuverings, a Scottish tribunal convicted a Libyan intelligence agent of mass murder. The unexpected verdict has not only brought a measure of justice to the families of Pan Am Flight 103, but also has made Libya the first national security challenge for the

Ray Takeyh

Articles & Testimony

No Feelings of Guilt or Remorse for Lockerbie

More than twelve years after Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, the striking point about the most expensive and elaborate trial in British legal history is its complete irrelevance, despite the conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent. Libya had negotiated such advantageous legal procedures that, regardless of the verdict

Ray Takeyh

A Lockerbie Trial Brief

The Lockerbie trial’s adjournment for much of the past two months did not curtail speculation on new evidence and sources. During the period of adjournment both the prosecution and defense carried out investigations throughout European capitals and unidentified third countries. After all this intrigue, it does appear that Lockerbie trial

Ray Takeyh

Articles & Testimony

Gadhafi's Failed African Ambitions

While the international media focus on the Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and Gaza, at least 600 Africans have been killed in riots in Libya. The massacre of African immigrants may have wider reverberations and foster important changes in Libya's foreign policy. Since his return to the international stage

Ray Takeyh

A Lockerbie Trial Brief:

The Tale of a Defector

The Lockerbie trial restarts on Tuesday, October 17, after a three-week recess. This recess was requested by the prosecution, who in a puzzling move, asked for time to investigate new evidence of "considerable sensitivity." Prior to the adjournment, the prosecution had introduced its star witness, a double agent with first-hand

Ray Takeyh

Opting for Europe and Africa, Not Ties with Washington

While Philippine soldiers may not have succeeded in freeing Western hostages--including American Jeffrey Schilling--the ongoing standoff in the faraway Pacific has provided one more opportunity for Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qaddafi to rehabilitate his tarnished international image. Qaddafi's latest humanitarian effort--ransoming hostages--reflects Libya's "new" diplomacy of offering to mediate regional conflicts

Ray Takeyh

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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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Featured experts

Robert Satloff - source: The Washington Institute

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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