North Africa Research & Reports

Defeating the Wagner Group

By Alia Brahimi

Host and nonresident senior fellow Alia Brahimi speaks with author and former mercenary Dr. Sean McFate about his three-pronged strategy for defeating the Wagner Group.

There is no democracy without civil society

By Karim Mezran and Elham Saudi

Twelve years after the Libyan uprising, we are at a crucial point on Libya’s road to democracy. Now more than ever, it is important that civil society is at the heart of the approaching electoral process and future governance.

Brett McGurk sets out the ‘Biden doctrine’ for the Middle East

By Atlantic Council

In a keynote speech at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Awards, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa explains the Biden administration’s strategy in the region.

Governing the Ungovernable. Consolidating the Libyan State Amidst Emerging Criminal Networks

Libya has endured ten years of turmoil, lack of stability, foreign interference, and internal strife. The presence and proliferation of local armed groups have further eroded state-building processes. Read this event recap to know more about Libya’s future.

The EU, NATO and the Libya crisis: Scaling ambitions down?

By Stefano Marcuzzi

In March 2011, a coalition of countries under the United Nations (UN) umbrella led militarily by NATO launched an air campaign in support of a series of revolts against the regime of Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya, ostensibly to stop Qaddafi’s reprisals on civilians.

How the Ukraine war has affected the MENA region’s pursuit of governance reforms

By Alissa Pavia and Lorenzo Fruganti

The geopolitical transformations of the last decade, combined with knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine, are impacting Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries’ respective domestic efforts to implement socioeconomic reforms.

Egypt’s “new” capital: Reshaping the future to erase the past

By Hafsa Halawa

In recent years, Egypt has fallen into resignation of its social, economic, and political trajectory.

The MENA region’s uneasy path towards reforms

By Karim Mezran, Valeria Talbot, Alissa Pavia, Lorenzo Fruganti, Eleonora Ardemagni, Andrew Farrand, Alessia Melcangi and Hafsa Halawa

Decade-old geopolitical transformations have impacted the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) states’ efforts to implement socioeconomic reforms. More recently, the Ukraine war’s reverberations are also likely to affect the MENA countries’ paths towards such reforms.

Tunisia: The populist drift of Saied and the looming socioeconomic crisis

By Alessia Melcangi

Even before the conflict in Ukraine, the liberal state model looked much less attractive for the broader Middle East region than it had only a decade earlier, at the height of the Arab Spring.

Boom and bust: Can Algeria break the cycles of its past?

By Andrew G. Farrand

In dire straits just a year ago, Algeria’s leaders show a new swagger today that might suggest the country has turned a corner.