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Middle East Programs

Working with our allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

Libya

Content

MENASource

May 8, 2015

The Army’s Nation

By Maged Atiya

Some of the least recognized voices in Egypt today belong to men and women trying to build and grow small and medium size businesses. While the hope for broad prosperity rests within their ranks, their concerns are often overlooked. Their voices today paint an unhappy picture. Among the plethora of comments, most offered privately, they […]

North Africa

MENASource

May 7, 2015

Court Ruling Threatens Egypt’s Labor Movement

By Khaled Dawoud

A recent ruling issued by the Supreme Administrative Court, outlawing labor strikes, has called into question the ability of Egyptian workers to defend their interests peacefully. The ruling, which forcibly retires striking employees, was criticized by labor and human rights activists for several reasons. First, it ignores article 15 in the Constitution, which states that […]

North Africa

MENASource

May 5, 2015

Can Egyptian-American Mohamed Soltan be Deported?

By Sonia Farid

With Mohamed Soltan’s hunger strike exceeding 450 days, speculation is rife as to how long he can survive in an Egyptian prison. In early April, Soltan, who is an American-Egyptian dual citizen, was sentenced to life in prison—technically a twenty-five year sentence in Egypt. A new law introduced last November by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi allowing […]

North Africa

AfricaSource

May 4, 2015

Nile Accord Opens Opportunity

By J. Peter Pham

Amid the attention recently focused on the Nigerian presidential election and the resulting democratic transition in Africa’s most populous country as well as on the brutal al-Shabaab terrorist attack on Kenya’s Garissa University College, an equally momentous event that took place at roughly the same time passed relatively unremarked. On March 23, the leaders of […]

Ethiopia North Africa

MENASource

May 4, 2015

Tunisia Walking a Tightrope

By Karim Mezran and Lara Talverdian

Whether one speaks to a taxi driver, a bureaucrat, an activist, or a politician, Tunisians agree: their country’s two primary challenges are security and the economy. During a research trip to Tunis in April, all of those interviewed unequivocally cited these interlinked concerns in response to questions about Tunisia’s obstacles.

North Africa

MENASource

May 1, 2015

Egypt’s Responsibility in the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis

By Mohamed Abdel Salam

As the season of migration via the Mediterranean begins, public policy discussions by Egyptian authorities on Syrian refugees have become increasingly important. Since the start of the year, over 1,750 refugees have died making the treacherous journey, attempting to leave the coasts of Africa for a better future in Europe. Syrians by far outnumber any […]

North Africa Syria

MENASource

Apr 29, 2015

Tunisia’s Security Sector and Countering Violent Extremism; Part II: The Police State, Six Years On

By Fadil Aliriza

In 2009, the US Ambassador to Tunisia wrote in a cable later published by Wikileaks, “Tunisia is a police state,” where the ruling regime used the police to protect itself rather than citizens.

North Africa

MENASource

Apr 28, 2015

What’s Next for Egypt’s Military and Media Moguls?

By Miriam Berger

It’s just past three o’clock in December and the Dot Masr office is bustling. Dozens of twenty-something Egyptians tap away at desktop computers in the website’s open newsroom in the two-story office in Garden City, Cairo — prime real estate. 

North Africa

New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2015

Dying to Get to Europe

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Libya’s ‘slave trade’—exodus of migrants from Africa—is a European crisis, says Atlantic Council’s Mezran A European commitment to save lives is “backfiring” as human traffickers continue to pack boats full of migrants fleeing desperate situations in Africa and the Middle East, says Atlantic Council analyst Karim Mezran. Traffickers have exploited instability in Libya to funnel […]

European Union International Organizations
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, April 23, 2015

NATOSource

Apr 27, 2015

A Challenge in the South for NATO

By Jim Hoagland, Washington Post

[T]he turmoil sweeping the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean today threatens to transform Europe’s strategic outlook on security matters.

France Italy

Experts