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Ragui Assaad

Professor

Expertise

North Africa

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Ragui Assaad is Professor at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He has written extensively on labor market and youth issues in the Middle East and North Africa. The author acknowledges the able research assistance of Stefan Johansson in the preparation of this essay.

The Latest from Ragui Assaad

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Solving Tunisia’s growing waste management problem
FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Solving Tunisia’s growing waste management problem

    Given its outsized role in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, waste management is an issue of global importance. Landfills account for almost 5% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and 12% of the world’s emissions of methane. The associated challenges are particularly acute in North Africa, and especially in Tunisia.

    March 31, 2022

    The Russia-Ukraine war might finally bring about a rise in Egypt’s bread prices
    Photo by Ahmed Gomaa/Xinhua via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • The Russia-Ukraine war might finally bring about a rise in Egypt’s bread prices

    As the price of wheat has shot up following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so too has the cost of Egypt’s bread subsidies, raising questions over their sustainability and potentially opening the door for an increase in the price of subsidized bread for the first time in decades.

    March 28, 2022

    Turkey between Ukraine and Russia
    Photo by Presidential Press Office via dia images via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Turkey between Ukraine and Russia

    President Erdoğan, as the leader of a middle-sized power strengthening an independent role, wants to enhance the reputation and expand that role for Turkey regionally and globally by achieving a balance of Ukrainian and Russian influence in the region.

    China’s evolving conflict mediation in the Middle East
    (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)
  • Analysis
  • China’s evolving conflict mediation in the Middle East

    Since the early 2000s, China has exhibited a degree of flexibility regarding its policy of non-interference in internal affairs, exemplified through a broader series of mediatory efforts in civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. China’s approach to conflict management has evolved, as have its motivations. This paper examines this evolution through the window of China’s conflict management in Sudan, Libya, and Syria.

    March 25, 2022

    How will the war in Ukraine affect EU-MENA relations?
    Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • How will the war in Ukraine affect EU-MENA relations?

    While most analyses of the war in Ukraine have tended to focus on the intra-European dimension, it is worth exploring the potential consequences of this conflict for the EU’s relations with countries further afield, especially those in the Middle East and North Africa.

    March 25, 2022

    مرة أخرى، عرقلة إسرائيلية غير قانونية للم شمل العائلات الفلسطينية
    Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • مرة أخرى، عرقلة إسرائيلية غير قانونية للم شمل العائلات الفلسطينية

    أقر البرلمان الإسرائيلي، في العاشر من آذار مارس الجاري ، مشروع قانون يمنع منح الجنسية للفلسطينيين من الضفة الغربية المحتلة وقطاع غزة المتزوجين من مواطنين إسرائيليين.

    March 25, 2022

    الوجود الإيراني في الحسكة السورية دور متنامي ومصدر تهديد مباشر للقوات الأمريكية
    Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • الوجود الإيراني في الحسكة السورية دور متنامي ومصدر تهديد مباشر للقوات الأمريكية

    زيادة القدرات العسكرية واللوجستية للمليشيات الإيرانية في محافظة الحسكة، ازداد منذ مطلع عام 2022، بعد أن كان وجودها يقتصر على مجموعات عسكرية صغيرة وبعض المليشيات المحلية المدعومة من إيران، لكن الأحداث الأخيرة فتحت المجال لها للتغلغل داخل المجتمعات المحلية، مستغلة تراجع الدور الروسي في المنطقة وخلافات العشائر العربية مع الإدارة الذاتية وقوات سوريا الديمقراطية.

    Iran’s growing presence in Syria’s al-Hasakah poses a direct threat to US forces
    Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Iran’s growing presence in Syria’s al-Hasakah poses a direct threat to US forces

    During February and early March 2022, the militias of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) located in Syria’s al-Hasakah Governorate brought in several shipments of weapons and military equipment in an effort to strengthen their military and security presence in the governorate, which is considered the richest in Syria in terms of oil and agricultural wealth.

    Yemen: Ending the War, Building a Sustainable Peace
    Photo by AHMAD AL-BASHA/AFP via Getty Images.
  • Analysis
  • Yemen: Ending the War, Building a Sustainable Peace

    Seven years on from the launch of the Saudi-led coalition’s military campaign on March 26, 2015, the civil war in Yemen remains stalemated. The fundamental realities of the conflict have not changed substantially in over five years. Meanwhile, the conditions under which the majority of innocent Yemenis are living continue to deteriorate. It’s time to consider measures that can promote an end to the conflict and lay the groundwork for post-conflict reconstruction.

    March 24, 2022