North Africa

When Sectarian Conflict Finds a Local Solution, Copts Lose

By Jayson Casper

What is the value of a presidential visit to the papal cathedral for a seventy-year-old Copt driven from his village? What good are warm relations between Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Pope Tawadros if relations remain tense between Youssef Tawfiq and his Muslim neighbors?

Protecting Refugees in Protracted Emergencies in the Middle East

By Bill Frelick

Um Ghassan was eleven in 1948 when her family fled Haifa. They joined the Palestinian exodus to Jordan, and later moved to Syria. “They welcomed us like we were their relatives,” she said. Decades later, when fighting broke out in Syria in 2011, Um Ghassan initially stayed in her house. “I would never leave my […]

The NDP Building Demolition: Erasing a Memory or Moving On?

By Joel Gulhane

When looters on January 28, 2011 raided the National Democratic Party (NDP) headquarters, a symbol of decades of repression overseen by President and party leader Hosni Mubarak, one man carried out a couch, said Ahmed, a witness to the spectacle.

Running Egypt as an Army Commander

By Khaled Dawoud

Interview with Mostafa Kamel al-Sayed Cairo University professor and prominent researcher Mostafa Kamel al-Sayed has actively worked for many years toward a modern, democratic and just state in Egypt. Under ousted-President Hosni Mubarak, he was a key member of both the Kefaya (or Enough) Movement and the National Association for Change.

Is This the End of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood?

By Gillian Kennedy

In the blistering heat of a Cairo courtroom in May, a resolute looking Mohammed Morsi listened as the judge announced a death sentence for charges of corruption and torture against the ousted president, which allegedly took place during his one year in power in 2012.

The Final Mubarak Trial [+INFOGRAPHIC]

By Khaled Dawoud

The drama of the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, which first began in August 2011 appears to finally have an end in sight. On June 4, Egypt’s highest Court of Cassation rejected a decision by the Appeals Court to drop the charges against Mubarak on technicality. Instead, it said Mubarak should be retried alone […]

One Year On: Security Under Sisi

By EgyptSource

The security situation in Egypt has shown little signs of improvement since the election of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. While the army continues to conduct vigorous counter terror operations in Sinai, targeting Egypt’s most active militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the attacks have shown no signs of abating.  

Egypt’s Africa Pivot

In a move which would establish the continent’s largest free trade area, Egypt has signed an agreement with twenty-five other African countries to form a “Cape to Cairo” Free Trade Zone. Integrating the three economic zones of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community, and the East African Community, […]

Progress and Pitfalls in Tunisia’s Democratic Transition

By Rafik Hariri Center

On June 3, 2015, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a roundtable to asses Tunisia’s current political and security situation and the challenges ahead. Nonresident Fellow Dr. Haykel Ben Mahfoudh and Dr. Sarah Feuer of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy shared their insights. Hariri Center’s North Africa expert […]