North Africa

Egypt’s Minimum Wage Hike: More Populism

By Mohsin Khan and Svetlana Milbert

The installation of the transitional government headed by Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi gave hope to Egyptians that the new technocratic economic team would turn the Egyptian economy around. The Beblawi government, with renowned economists like Finance Minister Ahmed Galal and Planning Minister Ashraf al Araby, was expected to reverse the downward spiral the economy was […]

EADS Head Says EU Lacks Clear Security Policy

By Daniel Michaels, Wall Street Journal

European policy on foreign affairs and security is less coherent now than at any point since the Cold War ended, widening a military gap with the U.S.

NATO Secretary General Holds Talks with Libya, Turkey

By NATO

The Alliance remains open to help the Libyan government rebuild its security sector, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan

Strategic Vision, Not Pessimism, Needed to Support the Arab Transitions

By Danya Greenfield

President Obama’s speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday was perhaps his most honest—though somewhat disappointing to those wanting the United States to play a vigorous democracy promotion role—account of US policy priorities in the Middle East.

US and EU: Lack of strategic vision, frustrated efforts toward the Arab transitions

By Danya Greenfield and Amy Hawthorne

A new Atlantic Council report, US and EU: Lack of Strategic Vision, Frustrated Efforts Toward the Arab Transitions, argues the United States and its European allies lack strategic vision in supporting the Arab countries that embarked in 2011 on a democratic path—Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen—and have not lived up to their stated commitments for […]

What Obama Said About Egypt in his UNGA Speech

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, President Barack Obama touched upon several key issues relating to the Middle East: Syria, Iran, the Israel-Palestine peace process, as well as dedicating several minutes to speaking about Egypt.

A Path Leading to Failure

By Mohamed Elgohari

The two consecutive regimes that ran Egypt from the January 2011 revolution up until July 3, 2013, have a key issue in common: neither seemed to grasp the social, economic, and political essence of the revolution. Whether the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) or the Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, neither sought to […]

Al Jazeera’s Media Lessons for Egypt

By Miriam Berger

Moments after the military announced Mohamed Morsi’s removal, Egyptian security forces raided Al Jazeera’s Egyptian station, disrupting service, confiscating equipment, and detaining journalists for alleged media law violations—and pro-Muslim Brotherhood biases. In the months since, Al Jazeera’s political and legal battles have kept the Qatar-owned satellite and online network a continued source of controversy in […]

Algeria’s Facelift Ignores the Disease

By Karim Mezran

After months of speculation about Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika’s deteriorating health and predicted incapacity to run the country, Bouteflika has demonstrated he cannot be written off quickly or lightly.