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Sep 22, 2016

Neither Washington Nor Riyadh’s Peace Plans Will Work in Yemen

By Bilal Y. Saab

On May 1, 2003, then-President George W. Bush stood in front of a large crowd aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of San Diego and famously pronounced with a draped “Mission Accomplished” banner behind him the end of US combat operations in Iraq. The declaration, it turned out, was wildly premature, for Washington’s […]

Saudi Arabia Yemen

MENASource

Sep 21, 2016

Factbox: Egypt’s Sisi Meets with Trump, Clinton in New York

By Jenna Amlani and Elissa Miller

On the sidelines of the 71st session of the United States General Assembly on September 19, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Sisi’s meetings with Trump and Clinton sparked considerable discussion around what the US-Egyptian relationship would look like under either presidency. Meanwhile, as in 2015, […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 19, 2016

Competing Politics and Claims of Sunnism

By H.A. Hellyer

This Hajj season, the modern religious culture wars among Muslims were prominent again, and are set to continue. With the Syrian quagmire deepening, such conflicts have deep consequences; one could imagine a way to traverse through that set of profoundly sectarian questions – but the answers are acutely political. Without that political settlement – which […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Sep 19, 2016

Jump Starting Tunisia’s Economic Growth

By Ouiem Chettaoui and Mohamed Malouche

Youssef Chahed, the Arab world’s youngest head of government and a 41-year-old PhD holder in agricultural economics, led the decentralisation program as Tunisia’s Minister of Local Affairs under the government of his predecessor, Habib Essid. This experience arms him in his new role as prime minister with an understanding of Tunisia’s deep bureaucracy and uneven […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 14, 2016

The Future of Secularism in Iraq

By Safwan Al-Amin

In today’s Iraq, political movements and politicians shy away from promoting secularism or proclaiming to be secularists. The reasons for this—and the reasons for the rise of religious (and religious identity) politics in Iraq after the 1958 coup in which the Hashemite monarchy was overthrown—are numerous and complex. Some of the main factors that may […]

Iraq

MENASource

Sep 12, 2016

Libya’s Future and Haftar’s Oil Grab

By Karim Mezran and Mattia Toaldo

The situation in Libya seems to be heading toward a military confrontation between forces loyal to the UN-sponsored Government of National Agreement (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of General Khalifa Haftar. The General is nominally under the authority of the House of Representatives (HoR), the parliament seated in Tobruk and of the […]

Libya

MENASource

Sep 9, 2016

Will Increased US Attention on Yemen Help End the War?

By Jillian Schwedler

US Secretary of State John Kerry met two weeks ago with Gulf Cooperation Council representatives, officials from the United Kingdom, and the UN special envoy in Jeddah to discuss the war in Yemen and the desperate need to advance the peace talks. He pledged $189 million in humanitarian aid and called for a new peace initiative.  […]

Yemen

MENASource

Sep 7, 2016

Regional Priorities for Egypt and the Next US Administration

By Zack Gold and Elissa Miller

In a series of interviews with state media at the end of August, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave insight into his views toward foreign policy, economics, and domestic politics. Sisi’s remarks on Libya and Syria in particular reflect the threat perceptions to national security driving Egypt’s foreign policy in the region and should be carefully […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 2, 2016

Challenges Facing the New Tunisian Government

By Fatim-Zohra El Malki

In a context of economic woes, Youssef Chahed’s proposed cabinet received overwhelming support in a vote of confidence on August 26, with 167 of Tunisia’s members of parliament voting in its favor. The early vote, which took place prior to the September 1 legal deadline to form a new government, allowed the newly appointed 26 […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 2, 2016

A Blow to Tunisia’s Democratic Process?

By Karim Mezran and Elissa Miller

Much has been made of the recent resignation by Tunisia’s former prime minister Habib Essid and the appointment and parliamentary approval of his replacement Youssef Chahed as damaging to Tunisia’s political stability. In the aftermath of these changes, one former member of Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly wrote, “Within the last 18 months, the parliament has […]

North Africa