Politics
Tunisia and the Salafist Threat
The North Africa Journal | The general security climate in Tunisia has deteriorated and government response has been timid and inefficient. Given the Islamist offensive appears well organized, it is likely part of an effort to destabilize Tunisia and derail its efforts to recover from a disastrous 2011.
[Security and Politics] Potential Pitfalls in the EU’s “More for More” Approach to Democratization in North Africa
The North Africa Journal | By Alec Simantov | Since June of last year, the European Union has been touting its new reform plan for its European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), which calls for a complete revamping of the Union’s political and economic relations with the ‘Southern Mediterranean’ countries, most notably North Africa....
[Security and Politics] Libya and the ICC: In the Pursuit of Justice?
The North Africa Journal | By Leila Hanafi | The ongoing post-conflict reconstruction process in Libya is reigniting a crucial debate among transitional justice advocates as to the role the International Criminal Court (ICC) can play in delivering justice and redress to victims of grave crimes. In the midst of the February 2011 revolution, the ICC opened an investigation into crimes allegedly committed in Libya, based on United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1970....
[Security and Politics] France’s New President: Foreign Policy and Where North Africa Stands
The North Africa Journal | President-elect François Hollande of France has his work cut out on the foreign policy front. His predecessor is leaving office with a sense of missed achievements and a series of policies blunders that need urgent fixing. In a five-year period, Sarkozy failed to leverage appropriately and responsibly his country’s global leadership position as a major economic and military power. That started with his failure to impose a more assertive France on the burning issues of the Euro-zone and the serious topic of the future of Europe....
[Security and Politics] The Rise of North Africans in French Politics
The North Africa Journal | Seeking to discredit his opponent during the Presidential race in France, outgoing President Nicholas Sarkozy stated on April 27, 2012 that François Hollande has received support from 700 Muslim clerics operating in France. Blinded by a bad attitude vis-a-vis North Africans and Sub-Sahara Africans in general, bordering xenophobia, Sarkozy may have lost precisely because he alienated a substantial minority block that is becoming key to French politics, somewhat akin to the Hispanic vote in US elections. ...
[Security and Politics] Mutiny in Mali
The State of Mali is the latest victim of a state of lawlessness affecting Sahel nations. Economic misery, an armed conflict against its Touareg ethnic population, relentless actions from terror groups allegedly affiliated to Al Qaeda, and an incompetent regime have pushed Mali into the abyss. Unable to fight on several fronts with insufficient resources, a group of Soldiers are turning against their leaders in what appears to be a coup attempt against the man that led a coup d'etat in 1990....
[Security and Politics] Tunisia’s Islamists: Will the Honeymoon Period End in the Next Elections?
The Islamist Ennahda Party is in control in Tunisia. After being denied political rights under the Ben Ali dictatorship for almost a quarter century, and a severe crackdown of its members, the Ennahda Party won the majority of seats in the Tunisian interim parliament called the Constituent Assembly, or National Constituent Assembly (NCA), following elections that took place on October 23, 2011. ...
[Security and Politics] Libya Year One: The Impassable Road to Stability
The North Africa Journal: Islamists in Libya were always staunched enemies of the Gaddafi regime. Muamar Gaddafi spent millions of dollars either fighting them or paying them to gain their loyalty. One of the very last acts he did as the rebellion started in Benghazi was to release from jail a group of Islamist militants and gave them money to buy their support. ...
[Security and Politics] The Future of Libya: Forget About a Central Government, Only Autonomous but Unified States Would Work
By Arezki Daoud | The North Africa Journal | Libya is in chaos and the idea that a central government driven by the National Transitional Council (NTC), or whatever comes after it will save it is pure fiction. Everywhere you look, every angle you analyze, every event that is reported by the media tell one thing, and one thing only: the NTC is incapable of governing and utterly unable to control the chaos as too many pressure points are breaking the country further apart. ...
[Security and Politics] Chaos in Northern Nigeria
The North Africa Journal | At least 120 people were killed in the troubled northern Nigerian city of Kano on Friday, the country’s second largest city. A series of bomb blasts were reportedly coordinated by the Islamist organization known as Boko Haram. ...[Security and Politics] Saleh Transfers Power to Yemeni VP
The North Africa Journal | When the news that the Yemeni President Saleh was about to sign a power transfer agreement broke out earlier this week, skeptics did not believe the battered ruler would go forward with the deal. He has made in the past several similar promises only to remain in power....[Security and Politics] Constituent Assembly Makes its Debut in Tunisia
Tunisia is speeding up its political recovery after several months of severe unrest. The ousting of dictator Ben Ali led to a chaotic period, followed by a solid performance of the moderate Islamists as the Tunisians went to vote for their representatives....[Security and Politics] Libya Has new Government Cabinet
After a brief delay, Interim Libyan Prime Minister has now a government cabinet tasked to secure the Libyan territory and get the economy going. The new cabinet will also work to pave the way for a permanent political landscape....[Security and Politics] Yemen Ruler's New Promise
The North Africa Journal: Yemeni ruler has made several pledges to transfer power only to rescind. A United Nations envoy to Yemen says negotiators have reached agreement on a plan that calls for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in a bid to end the country's political crisis....
[Security and Politics] Crisis Escalates in Egypt, Military Junta is Behind Lack of Political Progress
The North Africa Journal | The political crisis in Egypt is once again escalating and the military junta has a direct responsible for scores of deaths and the public disenchantment. Without a central figure in charge that would be accountable for progress, the military junta is seen by Egyptians as a stumbling block to political progress. It is time that the military return to their barracks....
[Security and Politics] Inside Al Qaeda’s New Offensive in North Africa
The North Africa Journal: As we warned in an earlier assessment, Al Qaeda’s North Africa franchise, AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) appears to be on the move with what may be a fresh offensive in the region. Having been sidelined by the popular revolts that have swept the Greater Mid-East North Africa zone, the death of Osama Bin Laden, the fragile state of Tunisia’s transition, the state of nervousness in Algeria and Morocco amid calls for democracy, and the chaos in Libya are providing an opening for AQIM to both position itself in light of a new geopolitical environment and to strike again to regain global opinion’s mind share. ...
[Security and Politics] Libya: Militias Terrorizing Residents of ‘Loyalist’ Town, HRW
The North Africa Journal | Beatings, Shootings, Deaths in Detention of Tawerghans: Militias from the city of Misrata are terrorizing the displaced residents of the nearby town of Tawergha, accusing them of having committed atrocities with Gaddafi forces in Misrata, Human Rights Watch said today. The entire town of 30,000 people is abandoned – some of it ransacked and burned – and Misrata brigade commanders say the residents of Tawergha should never return....
[Security and Politics] Islamist Ennahda Party Wins Big in Tunisia's First Free Elections | Update2
[By Arezki Daoud | US+508-981-6937] The Islamists of the Ennahda Party have won a major victory. Preliminary results of the votes of Tunisian expatriates abroad set the stage for what to expect within Tunisia proper when the results are announced. Ennahda has won 9 of the 18 seats allocated to the Tunisians living abroad, according to election authority "Instance Supérieure Indépendante pour les Eléctions" of ISIE. ...
[Security and Politics] The Second Arab Revolution Coming: Arab Rulers, You Have Been Warned!
[By Arezki Daoud | US+508-981-6937] Muamar Gaddafi would not go down without creating collateral damage, not just in his country but also among his fellow dictators. Bashar Al Assad of Syria, Ali Abdallah Saleh of Yemen and so many other Arab rulers have been warned: Find a political solution very soon or risk a bad ending. Arab dictators will now witness an acceleration of public action against them, strengthened by the outcome of the Libyan crisis, call it Arab Revolution Version 2.0. ...
[Security and Politics] Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi: Game over, now to the Next Battle
Game over for the Jamahiriya - at least for now. The battle for Tripoli has ended with the rebels taking over the Libyan capital, removing the green flags, replacing them with those of the old Senoussi monarchy. While Muamar Gaddafi remains missing, Green Square and most of the neighborhoods have been the scenes of jubilation as a surprising number of people have come out to celebrate the rebels. ...
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