North Africa

Libya: A Diplomat’s Dilemma

By Karim Mezran and Lara Talverdian

As UN officials and Western envoys shuttle back and forth trying to cobble together a robust negotiations process to resolve the Libyan conflict, the North African country’s Supreme Court—the last standing state institution with some semblance of neutrality and credibility—issued a verdict declaring the elected, internationally-recognized parliament invalid. The move was presumably made in a […]

The Week in Egypt [November 10, 2014]

By Shiyun Lu

Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.

Factbox: Everything You Need to Know About Egypt’s UPR

By EgyptSource

Egypt underwent its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in four years on November 5. Egypt’s three-hour UPR witnessed statements from Egypt and other member states, with over a hundred member states offering recommendations.

ISIS and Egypt’s Militants

News sources recently announced that Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), Egypt’s most active and seemingly best organized terrorist organization that has conducted several successful attacks on state security assets, had formally pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

The Islamic State and the Internationalization of the Sinai Conflict

By Zack Gold

The Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) is one of the most active “unaffiliated” jihadi groups, having yet to pledge fealty to either the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) or al-Qaeda (AQ). Given its strategic position between Egypt’s Nile Valley and Israel, and its attacks against both, the group’s activities receive major international coverage—even […]