North Africa Blog Posts

At a time when the two-state solution is experiencing what could be its last agonising convulsions and with negotiations seemingly unable to achieve anything other than perpetuating the status quo,Read more…...

At the end of April as Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was flown to France for treatment, in my blog post "The perils of gerontocracy", I warned that these are testing times for theRead more…...

A few weeks ago, an important player backed out of Egypt’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Hany Kadry Dimian, former deputy finance minister and the IMF’s “go-to” manRead more…...

Qatar’s gung-ho foreign policy (discussed in greater depth in ECFR’s latest Gulf Analysis) is so often depicted by big moves and big money. Before the Syrian uprising in 2011, Gulf powers,Read more…...

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Rome from Moscow, where he convened with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to call for an international conference, possibly by the end of the month, toRead more…...

Since 2011, member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have expressed interest in full political and economic integration in a much-touted Gulf Union. As regional organisations areRead more…...

  On Tuesday 7 May the Egyptian cabinet was reshuffled – and one of the key portfolios for Egypt’s relations with the outside world went to Amr Darrag of the Freedom and Justice Party. Darrag wasRead more…...

  On Tuesday 7 May the Egyptian cabinet was reshuffled – and one of the key portfolios for Egypt’s relations with the outside world went to Amr Darrag of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom andRead more…...

  Last week’s bombing of the French embassy in Tripoli continues to be surrounded by question marks. As French foreign minister Fabius arrived in the aftermath, no one had claimed responsibilityRead more…...

If Europe and the international community are serious about reaching an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians that benefits from a broad consensus amongst Palestinians, it must open aRead more…...

If Europe and the international community are serious about reaching an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians that benefits from a broad consensus amongst Palestinians, it must open aRead more…...

  It is a clear signal that an ailing autocrat’s health really is as bad as the rumours say, despite periodic public appearances to try to prove the contrary, when they have to be flown to aRead more…...

  A few weeks ago, I managed to find myself a standing spot in a crammed lecture on job opportunities at Cairo University. Around 200 eager Egyptian students, sandwiched into rows, listenedRead more…...

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERED TO BE A TERRORIST MEANING THAT YOU COMMITTED AN ACT OF TERROR UPON A MEMBER OR PEOPLE OF AMERICA YOUR RIGHTS AS A CITIZEN OR NATURALIZED CITIZEN ARE NIL. LET’S BE MORE SPECIFIC. YOU HAVE ZERO RIGHTS. IN ANY OTHER LANGUAG...

The day after Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of a two-year deadline for achieving an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution during Congressional testimony, a group of European Eminent PersonsRead more…...

  Before the Arab Awakening, perhaps the only reason outsiders would take note of Bahrain was the country's annual Grand Prix. Accordingly, since the outbreak of revolutionary fever in Bahrain inRead more…...

Europe is increasingly divided between those in favour of arming Syrian rebels and those against it. However, notwithstanding the broader uncertainty over the merits or not of providing militaryRead more…...

Is Algeria on the verge of a ‘youthquake’? Reports have been trickling out of Algeria over the past month of social protests, largely in the south of the country but spreading, slowly but surelyRead more…...

Breaking with a decades-long tradition of having Morocco as the first destination for a French President’s first official visit to North Africa, Francois Hollande’s two-day (April 3-4) stop inRead more…...

The Libyan war is not over for Germany. That was my main conclusion after speaking at two events on Europe and the United Nations in Berlin this week.The discussions, organized by the Green PartyRead more…...