The Maghreb

Political, economic, and security trends in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya

While the Maghreb has long been at the margins of U.S. policy in the Middle East and North Africa, trends in this region increasingly reverberate throughout the Middle East. In this new environment, developments in the Maghreb will continue to have an impact both on the broader Middle East and on U.S. interests. The Middle East Program examines changing political, economic, and security trends in the Maghreb—defined here as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya—through original research and analysis and by convening events that highlight issues of importance in the Maghreb to business and policymaking audiences.

See the Middle East Program's publications and past events on the Maghreb HERE.


All content by The Maghreb

Filter by

31 - 40 of 91 results

Maghreb Roundtable: Between Jihadi-Salafism and Local Conflict: Evolving Security Threats in the Maghreb and the Sahel

Jihadi-salafi groups continue exploiting local conflicts in the Maghreb and Sahel that shape a regional security environment influenced largely by political dynamics, according to Benjamin Nickels and Rida Lyammouri. Benjamin Nickels is an associate professor of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency at the National Defense University’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Rida Lyammouri is an independent security analyst focusing on North Africa and the Sahel. The two experts discussed evolving security trends in the Maghreb and the Sahel, the intersection of local and jihadi-salafi-driven conflicts, and the prospects for greater regional security cooperation during a roundtable event entitled “Between Jihadi-Salafism and Local Conflict: Evolving Security Threats in the Maghreb and the Sahel,” at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on June 14, 2017.

Event by Haim Malka , Benjamin Nickels , and Rida Lyammouri — June 14, 2017

Roundtable: The Crisis of the Muslim Brotherhood

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s failure to manage its transition from semi-clandestine opposition group to governing party in the aftermath of the country’s 2011 revolution was the product of external conditions and internal mistakes.

Event by Haim Malka — May 17, 2017

Maghreb Roundtable: Social Protests in the Maghreb: The New Normal?

Six years after the Arab uprisings, a combination of poor governance, a lack of economic development, and a youth crisis continues to spur discontent and protests in the Maghreb, argued experts Messaoud Romdhani and Mohammed Masbah. Both Morocco and Tunisia witness hundreds of protests per month. How governments respond to protest movements will be a key factor affecting populations’ relationships with the state moving forward. Romdhani, the co-founder and vice president of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), and Masbah, a research fellow at Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies, both spoke at a CSIS Middle East Program Maghreb Roundtable titled “Social Protests in the Maghreb: The New Normal?” on February 16, 2017.

Event by Haim Malka — February 16, 2017

The Strategic Seam Between Europe and the Middle East: Rethinking U.S. Bilateral and Regional Policies Towards the Eastern Mediterranean

The Europe Program and Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) convened a group of experts and distinguished practitioners on January 25,  2017  for the first workshop of its Eastern Mediterranean Initiative to debate these questions and evaluate U.S. policies towards a region in flux.

Event by Jon B. Alterman and Heather A. Conley — January 25, 2017

The Storm: The States of the Middle East Confront a Series of Powerful Disruptions

We are witnessing a particularly dynamic moment as the region grapples with three wrenching simultaneous disruptions: a set of daunting internal challenges; a set of formidable external challenges; and a profound crisis of confidence, brought on by the uprisings and revolutions of 2011 and a sense of imminent Western abandonment. In an earlier age, each of these disruptions, alone, would have been enough to provoke a widespread crisis. Now, they are happening all at once—amplifying, reinforcing, and building on top of one another.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — November 18, 2016

Spreading the Word: Libya's Berber Language Revival

The revolution will not be subtitled. Since the fall of Muammar el-Qaddafi, Libya’s Berber minority has labored to bring its languages, a set of dialects called Tamazight, out of the shadows after decades of suppression. Many Libyan Berbers—or Amazigh, as some prefer to call themselves— view language revival as the first step towards getting their due in a new national compact. Getting there will take lots of help.

Newsletter — May 21, 2016

Risk and Reform: An Outlook for Oil and Gas Exporting Countries

This event reviews the menu of reform options available to countries facing fiscal difficulties resulting from low hydrocarbon prices, as well as the particular challenges faced by Nigeria, Iraq, and Algeria, and the reform pathways those countries’ governments are undertaking.

Event by Sarah Ladislaw and Frank A. Verrastro — May 4, 2016