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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

Jul 3, 2018

How the West and the UN failed Libya

By Emadeddin Zahri Muntasser and Dr. Mohamed Fouad

Whereas the ambitions of competing warlords fan the flames of conflict and consume the country’s oil resources, envoys from the UN and West to Libya continue to congratulate themselves for having said much but done little. In the balance hangs not only the success of those diplomats’ missions, but also the very future of Libya […]

Libya

In the News

Jul 2, 2018

Hellyer Quoted in France 24 on Egypt’s ‘War on Terror’

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here.

North Africa

MENASource

Jun 6, 2018

Elections in Libya: No alternative?

By Karim Mezran

Many sensible, rational, and fundamentally correct objections have been raised by members of the press, regional experts, and NGOs.

Elections Libya

In the News

May 24, 2018

Hellyer Quoted in the Financial Times on Egypt’s Target of Activists

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here

North Africa

MENASource

May 24, 2018

Is Tunisia’s glass half empty or half full?

By Karim Mezran & Erin A. Neale

The recent round of elections in Tunisia is further proof of what has been demonstrated across the region and world: that holding elections is not an elixir, but rather a first step upon which to build a strongly rooted democracy.

Democratic Transitions Elections

New Atlanticist

May 18, 2018

Why North Korea is Not Libya

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US National Security Advisor John Bolton infuriated North Korea by suggesting that Libya’s experience with denuclearization could serve as a model for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. The comment sparked swift condemnation from North Korean officials. That Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who in 2003 made the deal to give up his weapons of […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2018

Bridging the Gulf in the GCC

By Rachel Brandenburg

Relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have been fractured for much of the past year. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017 citing reports that Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani had made remarks of the United States while offering support for […]

International Organizations North Africa

In the News

May 8, 2018

Pham Quoted in Maroc Diplomatique on Hezbollah and the Algerian Regime

By J. Peter Pham

Read the full article here

North Africa

MENASource

May 7, 2018

A national conference for Libya’s future

By Karim Mezran & Erin A. Neale

In the ongoing effort by international and domestic actors to solve the political deadlock in Libya, the spotlight is on UN Special Envoy Ghassan Salame. Since the second anniversary of the signing of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) in the Moroccan city of Skhirat in December 2015, Salame’s well-thought and defined Action Plan for Libya […]

International Organizations Libya

MENASource

May 2, 2018

Hopes and challenges as Tunisia goes to the polls

By Elissa Miller

Tunisians will go to the polls to vote in the country’s first municipal elections on May 6. The vote is an important milestone in the country’s democratic transition and decentralization process; which aims to bridge the gap between the central government in Tunis and the Tunisian people. Since Tunisia’s constitution was passed in 2014, municipal […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

Experts