Programs

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

Feb 22, 2019

General Haftar’s offensive in the Fezzan region and the Italian-French competition

By Karim Mezran

The military forces under the command of General Khalifa Haftar launched a large-scale attack on the Fezzan region in January, with the aim of taking control of the main areas of local oil production.

Libya

EnergySource

Feb 19, 2019

Gas and conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean

By Nael M. Shama

In January, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority established the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) in an effort to coordinate energy policies and establish a regional gas market. The group will attempt to develop and organize the region’s rising gas market, allowing its members to tap their vast natural gas resources, […]

Geopolitics & Energy Security North Africa

MENASource

Jan 28, 2019

New technologies for a new Tunisia

By Wafa Ben-Hassine

With the new Start-Up Act, passed on April 2, 2018, Tunisia has started to clear the path for innovation that could lead to economic growth. The Act removed several bureaucratic hurdles that innovative projects faced when creating new business structures—vestiges of a system implemented in colonial times.

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 24, 2019

The Egyptian revolution: Eight years later

By Dr. H.A. Hellyer

Eight years ago today, a small group of Egyptians protested against their government. The protest grew, and led to millions of Egyptians coming to the streets across their country, eventually resulting in Hosni Mubarak resigning the presidency.

North Africa

New Atlanticist

Jan 22, 2019

Transitional justice in Tunisia—a transition to what?

By Eric Goldstein

Transitional justice, in a country that once seemed a propitious setting for it, is at risk of petering out amid indifference or worse from leading politicians.

Democratic Transitions Human Rights

MENASource

Jan 10, 2019

Exploiting the achievements of the Libyan political agreement

By Karim Mezran and Wolfgang Pusztai

The conference on Libya held in Palermo, Italy last November saw neither the rising of a new dawn in terms of security and political consensus nor the development of a strong agreement around a well-defined plan.

Libya

MENASource

Nov 14, 2018

The United States should not get involved in Libya’s civil war

By Hafed Al-Ghwell

An unmistakable sense of despair and gloom accompanies most news reports and literature on the state of affairs in Libya after 2011. The Arab Spring was meant to usher in a period of unprecedented change after decades of notoriously undemocratic leadership across the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, seven years later, there has been very little positive development in terms of transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in the Arab world.

Libya

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2018

Libya, the US, and the Palermo Conference

By Karim Mezran and Erin A. Neale

The United States has much to gain by taking a larger leadership role in the political negotiations and redirecting the tangential European actions toward the UN-led stabilization process.

Democratic Transitions Elections

MENASource

Nov 7, 2018

The unknowns of the Libya stabilization conference

By Nicola Pedde

The approaching conference on Libyan stabilization hosted by Italy—which will be held on November 12 and 13 in Palermo—will bring together the main Libyan leaders, with the purpose of defining their respective negotiation platforms in advance. Italy must not only navigate the components of Libya's heterogeneous and conflicting political landscape, but also host the most relevant regional and global actors.

Libya

MENASource

Nov 5, 2018

The end—or not—of Tunisia’s “Mut’ah”?

By Erin A. Neale

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi announced in September the official end to the alliance between Nidaa Tounes Ennahda that had been holding on since February 2015. Termed a “mut'ah”—a temporary marriage of traditional Shia origin—by Tunisia expert Dr. Monica Marks, it was a marriage of convenience between the two main parliamentary parties to preserve stability and to focus on counterterrorism, improving the economy, and government efficiency during the critical transitional period following the ousting of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

North Africa

Experts