North Africa

Islam Is Not the Solution to What Ails the Middle East

By Barbara Slavin

During the decades when Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was a barely tolerated opposition party, it campaigned against the reigning secular autocrats under the banner, “Islam is the solution.” With the military’s removal on Jul. 3 of the Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, the region’s oldest exemplar of political Islam has lost its best and perhaps only chance […]

Two-Against-One Politics Threaten to Drive Egypt Over the Edge

By Michele Dunne

Speculation is intense about whether the protests planned for the June 30 anniversary of President Mohamed Morsi’s inauguration will fizzle in the blistering summer heat, blow up into Revolution 2.0, or descend into widespread violence. The narrative of polarization between Islamists and non-Islamists—a struggle for the soul and future of Egypt—is compelling, and even Defense […]

Roundtable on Developments in Libya

Recent events in Libya demonstrate that the country’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy is still tenuous and fraught with a number of immediate challenges. The Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, together with Freedom House and the Project on Middle East Democracy, hosted a private roundtable on June 20 to explore the […]

Roundtable on Egypt’s Ongoing Political Crisis

The Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a roundtable discussion with former member of parliament and founding member of Egypt’s Social Democratic Party Ziad Bahaa-Eldin on the ongoing crisis in Egypt.

Post-revolutionary politics in Libya: Inside the General National Congress

By Karim Mezran, Fadel Laman, and Eric Knecht

In the latest issue brief from the Rafik Hariri Center at the Atlantic Council, “Post-revolutionary Politics in Libya: Inside the General National Congress,” authors Karim Mezran, Fadel Lamen, and Eric Knecht analyze the evolution of Libya’s political landscape since the July 2012 elections for the General National Congress (GNC). In the lead-up to the GNC […]

Three Benghazi Myths

By R. Nicholas Burns

The Benghazi controversy’s return to Washington’s raging partisan wars continues to portray our political culture at its worst.

Egypt’s Growing Judicial Activism Stymies Democratic Consolidation

On May 13, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East held an event to release a new issue brief, “Egypt’s Litigious Transition: Judicial Intervention and the Muddied Road to Democracy.” Director of the Rafik Hariri Center Michele Dunne moderated a discussion with the author Mahmoud Hamad, who is assistant professor at Drake […]

Egypt’s litigious transition: Judicial intervention and the muddied road to democracy

By Mahmoud Hamad

The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East is pleased to release a new issue brief, Egypt’s Litigious Transition: Judicial Intervention and the Muddied Road to Democracy. Mahmoud Hamad, assistant professor of politics and international relations at Drake University, evaluates to the evolving role of Egypt’s judiciary in the country’s transition since the ouster of […]