First Independent Mena Newspaper
When the 26-year-old fruit vendor, Mohammed Bouazizi – after being slapped around by local authorities one time too many – in an act of desperation and protest, set himself on fire in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid, no analyst or politician could have foreseen the wave of regional uprisings that were to follow. What […]
It is common today to associate Salafism with radicalism, nihilist violence and failed states. In fact, Salafism is a heterogeneous religious and political tendency. Salafis agree on the glorification of the early Muslim community, its religious texts, its supposed unity, its energy and moral conduct. However, they differ considerably on the way to revive this […]
New Geopolitical Realities The escalating violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, in which scores of Palestinians and Israelis have so far been killed, is being played out against a fast changing geopolitical setting. The current Israel-Gaza clash is the largest since Israel’s war in Gaza in 2008-2009, when Hamas was a political pariah […]
The US elections and the monotonous presidential debates bear little to no substance on North Africa. In the much-anticipated third debate on foreign policy, there was scant mention of the countries of the Maghreb and their important strategic worth in US global fight against terrorism. Except for Libya (mentioned 12 times) in the context of […]
The adage ‘a chain is as strong as its weakest link’ is well applied to the need for harmonised maritime standards across a region as diverse as the Mediterranean. As one of the world’s major shipping areas, the Mediterranean Sea comprises some 450 ports and terminals, handling more than 300,000 port calls per annum. Progress […]
By 18 October 2012, a report that Salafis destroyed an 8,000-year-old petroglyph in Yakour Plain not far from Marrakesh quickly spread on Facebook and Twitter. The rock-drawing depicting the animistic divinity of the sun is one of thousands of stone carvings in the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains. Print and online newspapers repeated these rumors, […]
The coming state visit of François Hollande in Algeria by the end of the year is an opportunity to take stock of the political relationship between France and Algeria. For decades, this crucial relationship has been complex, ambiguous and systematically ridden by memories of the bloody and endless war that France imposed on its colony […]
Abdurrahman, 30, graduated from college two years ago. Immediately after graduation he started the grueling job search process. First he applied for the public sector and took part in many hiring competitions but failed in them all. Then he sent his résumé to private employers but most of the time he received no answer and […]
In February 2012, the European Parliament approved proposals to reduce restrictions on agricultural and fisheries exports from Morocco into the EU, and to allow Morocco to participate in EU single market programs (on competitiveness and innovation, customs, transport). A few days later, on 1 March 2012, a free trade area (FTA) in industrial goods was […]
In May 2012, leaders of the G8 countries met in France in order to discuss an eventual support of the ongoing revolutionary processes of the Arab Spring. Although a number of countries have already helped financially or otherwise, the current amounts of aid implicitly suggest that another Marshall Plan in not going to take place. […]