The relations between the EU and Gaddafi-ruled Libya saw two important turning points over the last decade before the dictator’s regime collapsed. Relations between the EU and Libya quickly developed after many years of international isolation following Gaddafi’s pledge in 2004 to abandon Libya’s WMD program. This development was completely reversed in February 2011 when […]
Features
Algeria: Will PM Sellal be up to economic, social challenges?
Algeria is said to have been spared the turmoil of the Arab Spring and the legislative elections held last May gave, contrary to analysts’ forecasts, an overwhelming majority to the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN). The long awaited change was not at the rendez-vous, still, Algerians were hoping that the new cabinet that was to […]
Taming the Praetorian Temptation in Egypt
When Mohamed Morsi won the presidential elections in Egypt, a conflict between the president and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) was only a question of time. Morsi’s move to call the Parliament back into session was nothing less than the opening salvo in this conflict and a strong reminder by the President […]
Cost of “Non-Maghreb”, exorbitant for North Africa
The countries of the Maghreb set up in February 1989 a union that was designed to be a milestone in promoting inter-Maghreban relations on the political, economic, cultural and social scales. More than twenty years after the Arab Maghreb Union, also known by its French acronym as UMA, came into being, little has been achieved […]
The Jasmine Plan: Tunisia’s Way to Economic Recovery
When fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010 and started the first of the series of “Arab Spring” revolutions, it was not just the decade-long dictatorship that he was protesting against but also the poor state of the Tunisian economy that had been for long unable to provide its people with […]
Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia gets European bank investments
Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia will soon benefit from investments coming from Europe’s Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as their economies continue to struggle. The bank is looking forward to an investment that could swell up to 200 million Euros. The investment in these three countries will be followed by several similar projects in the […]
Egypt: Will tourists come back to the rescue of an ailing economy?
In 2010, Egypt ranked among the 20 top tourism countries in the world with a honourable 18th place. A year later, the Arab spring swept over Egypt, scaring away the 14 million international tourists who visits the country yearly. In 2011, the revolution that toppled President Hosni Moubarak dealt a serious blow to the tourism […]
Egypt: Sinai headquarters attacked
The Egyptian government’s security headquarters in Al-Arish, Northern Sinai, has come under attack of Islamist militants in the region who were armed with mortar bombs and machine guns. Narrating the incident, a security source said the militants were on rooftops of buildings close to the headquarters before they opened fire. He said that it was […]
Washington fears violence over anti-Islam film may spread to U.S.
While protest movements and demonstrations, sometimes violent, are being staged across the Islamic world to denounce the video deemed insulting to Islam’s prophet Mohammed and to Muslims’ beliefs, Washington is fearing this violence may spread to the United States. According to US media, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have released a joint […]
UN considering proposal on neutral force deployment in Eastern DRC
The United Nations peace keeping operations department is looking into the proposal to deploy a neutral force in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an attempt to quell the violence and alleviate the sufferings of the local population. The proposal to deploy a neutral international force along the Rwanda- DRC […]









