Algeria Headlines

Algeria: government bond investments

Algeria’s finance Minister, Karim Djoudi, has precised that the country will not be buying shares in foreign companies overseas to increase its foreign exchange reserves. He firmly said that “this choice is not part of our policy of foreign exchange reserve management,” reiterating its strategic choice to invest in government bonds, although with modest yield […]

Columns Features Headlines Morocco

Morocco and the U.S: a transatlantic alliance to address MENA’S challenges and opportunities

In a tragic yet entirely unexpected way, it is immediately post a dramatic event in the Maghreb- the unfortunate assassination of U.S. ambassador in Libya- that Morocco and the United States have renewed vows on their long standing shared journey by signing a Strategic Pact in Washington two weeks ago. While many observers view this […]

Business Energy Headlines Morocco

Morocco: Saudi-led Consortium Wins $1 Bln Solar Plant Bid

A consortium led by Saudi’s company ACWA Power International has won a $1 billion contract to build a 160-megawatt solar plant in Southern Morocco. The plant, to be built near city of Ouarzazate, is the first phase of a 500-megawatt ambitious project, first of its kind in Northern Africa. The Saudi-led consortium includes Spanish firm […]

Egypt Features Headlines

The Metamorphoses of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

To comprehend the current role and position of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, rather than focusing only on its present-day form and the general policies of this movement, we must take a closer look at the historical evolution of this organization. One will then realize that the Muslim Brotherhood is not an entity that could […]

Features Libya

The EU and the ‘New Libya’: a Fresh Chance for Europe’s Normative Power ?

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 […]

Columns Egypt Features

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 […]

Headlines Tunisia

Tunisia Salafists Threaten Freedoms & Security

Head of Tunisia moderate Islamist Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, has vowed to fight and stand up to the hardline salafists who showed lately their real face when they added oil to the fire in the deadly violence that rocked the country over anti-Islam film. “These people pose a threat not only to Ennahda but to […]

Europe Headlines International

French magazine cartoons: France fears violent backlash

France, fearing a backlash after a French satirical magazine published provocative cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, has decided to temporarily close on Friday its diplomatic missions, cultural centers and schools in 20 Islamic countries and asked the authorities of these countries to tighten security measures around these compounds. In some countries, French schools were shut […]

Features Headlines Tunisia

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 […]