The Mattei Plan, announced in October 2022 by new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as an innovative vision that the government of Italy would exercise in its relationship with Africa and African countries, has immediately taken center stage in the European political debate. The Mattei Plan is much more than an economic development plan, and it
In an era of significant global turbulence and intense human tragedy, North African governments have demonstrated that there is opportunity in crisis. Until recently, the regimes in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco were significantly stressed. Record-high consumer prices, combined with widespread youth unemployment and deepening repression—all in the absence of clear pathways for meaningful leadership change—suggested
For nearly five decades, Algeria has used the dispute over Western Sahara as a front for its antagonization of Morocco. But behind Algeria’s support for the Sahrawi cause lies a much more complex case of the Algerian establishment’s determination to simultaneously avenge historical grievances and prevent Morocco from reclaiming a territory that would increase its
While strolling the labyrinth of Algiers’s ancient alleyways in 2014, I encountered a rare copper artisan in the casbah. As I took photos of his tiny shop, he glanced at me suspiciously. Once he learned I was Moroccan, he warmly welcomed me with mint tea, nostalgically recalling Si Mohamed, the master artisan from Fez who
Since the Libyan House of Representatives announced a new law for presidential and parliamentary elections on November 1, 2023, specifying a deadline of two hundred and forty days for holding the polls, political divisions in Libya have deepened. Despite this legislative step, disagreements persist among Libyan authorities, with various powerful politicians and military figures vying
Relations between Egypt and Israel have soured in recent weeks as Israel prepares to launch a full-scale ground offensive into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip—a move that Cairo has warned would put its peace treaty with Israel at risk and destabilize the region. Egypt fears a sweeping assault on Rafah—where more than one
The civil war in Sudan, which started in April 2023 between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, commander in chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (better known as “Hemedti”), commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is approaching its one-year mark. With more than thirteen thousand Sudanese lives lost and 10.7 million people
Egypt has up security along its shared northern border with the Gaza Strip following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s February 9 announcement of a planned ground offensive in Rafah, south of the enclave, “to eliminate Hamas’ last remaining strongholds.” The impending crisis has left Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with little options—as internal pressures continue
As the Red Sea crisis prompted by the Gaza War enters its fourth month with no sign of a breakthrough, Egypt—which relies on Suez Canal revenues as one of its primary sources of foreign currency—has been hit hard. Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have caused major shipping companies
As Israel’s relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip enters its fourth month, Egypt—which is suffering the ramifications of the ongoing war on its northern border—has, in recent weeks ramped up its mediation efforts to broker a permanent ceasefire. But despite inching closer to a new hostage release deal, the assassination of Hamas’ Deputy Leader Saleh