North Africa

The Death Sentence: Consequences of Taking the Wrong Path [Part II]

By Yussef Auf

The repercussions of sentencing hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death have mostly been negative. The positions of international officials towards what happened may give a sense of the scale of the extremely negative reaction to these events.

The Battle Behind Campus Walls

By Eric Knecht

Egyptian universities have become too dangerous for the state to handle. Or at least it would seem that way. Students this week at Cairo University, the country’s largest national university, sat for final examinations on campuses more closely resembling high security prisons.

MENASource Discussions: Libya Under the Microscope

By MENASource

A new Atlantic Council report examines the threats to Libya’s stability, provides a detailed mapping of the militia landscape, and details policy options for the Libyan government and its international partners. In Libya’s Faustian Bargains: Breaking the Appeasement Cycle, the authors attribute the cycle of violence, intractable political stalemate, and weakened economy to the Libyan authorities’ […]

Sisi in the Hot Seat: Reading Between the Lines

By Wael Eskandar

Former Field Marshall and presidential hopeful Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appeared on television for the first time in an extended interview on May 5 and May 6 of 2014. The interview was conducted by two leading presenters in Egyptian media who championed the ouster of former present Mohamed Morsi, Ibrahim Eissa, known to have been an […]

Electoral Law Brings Tunisia One Step Closer to Completing Transition

By Duncan Pickard

The National Constituent Assembly (NCA) adopted an organic law on elections on May 1, marking the next step in Tunisia’s transition to democracy and clearing the way for presidential and parliamentary elections in the fall. Adoption of the law was a necessary next step in Tunisia’s political transition after the passage of the new constitution […]

The Road to Presidential Elections [Update 5]

By EgyptSource

With voting in Egypt’s second presidential elections in two years expected to take place on May 26 and 27, EgyptSource will be providing periodic updates on the latest news coming out of the Egyptian elections process.

Libya Cannot, and Should Not, Please Them All

By MENASource

Amidst political stagnation, massive security concerns, and an economic mudslide, Libya faces one of its most sensitive periods in its transition to a stable democracy. Despite international support, the dangers inherent in the country’s struggle to move forward will not be resolved unless the fundamental problem of appeasement is addressed.

Libya’s Faustian Bargains: Breaking the Appeasement Cycle

Many Libya observers cite the Qaddafi-era legacy of weak institutions and the conduct of the 2011 revolutionary war as key obstacles to the country’s democratic transition. The new Libyan authorities’ policy of appeasement, however, is just as much a factor in undermining political progress. On Monday, May 5, 2014, the Rafik Hariri Center for the […]

The Week in Egypt [May 5, 2014]

By Daniel Stoker

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

Libya’s Faustian bargains: Breaking the appeasement cycle

By Karim Mezran, Jason Pack, and Mohamed Eljarh

A new Atlantic Council report examines the threats to Libya’s stability, provides a detailed mapping of the militia landscape, and details policy options for the Libyan government and its international partners. In Libya’s Faustian Bargains: Breaking the Appeasement Cycle, the authors attribute the cycle of violence, intractable political stalemate, and weakened economy to the Libyan […]