In a brief conversation with a taxi driver who was taking me from Cartage international airport to down town Medina, I noticed glimpses of optimism in...
Turkey as a ‘Role Model’ in the MENA Region after the Arab Spring
The Arab revolutions of 2011 have brought into immediate focus the following question related to Turkey’s foreign policy: ‘Can Turkey’s economic and p...
Israel-Gaza Truce – Peace until the Next War?
Recently, a truce was mediated – by Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi – between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. But … how long can such a t...
Social Media in North Africa: a ‘Double-Edged Weapon’
How important has been the role that social media have played in the Arab Spring uprisings and the subsequent democratic transformation affecting the ...
Post-Arab Spring Tourism Industry: Back in Business
It has been almost two years since the Arab Spring hit the countries of Middle East and North Africa. While some nations have taken a fresh breath of ...
Morocco, France, a continuing wonderful idyll
French President François Hollande will pay early 2013 a visit to Morocco at the invitation of King Mohammed VI. The announcement was made Wednesday i...
What Arab Spring? The Folly that is Henry Kissinger
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 an...
The Grey-Force: Militant Salafism and Changing Security in North Africa
It is common today to associate Salafism with radicalism, nihilist violence and failed states. In fact, Salafism is a heterogeneous religious and poli...
Changing Geopolitics of the Gaza Strip and Egypt’s Predicament
New Geopolitical Realities The escalating violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, in which scores of Palestinians and Israelis have so far bee...
O Maghreb: Where Art Thou… in US Foreign Policy?
The US elections and the monotonous presidential debates bear little to no substance on North Africa. In the much-anticipated third debate on foreign ...