Outlook for Sustainable Agriculture in North Africa: Report Card Assessment
This report assesses the future sustainability of agriculture across North Africa using a multidimensional approach that considers the dynamics of water, climate, land, and economics. To enable this assessment of sustainable agriculture across the region, the author evaluates water resources reliability, water use efficiency, agricultural land sustainability, and the food sector economy for Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania, and provides recommendations for action.
Unconditional surrender of an adversary is possible only if the victor conducts unconditional war, which the American public clearly was not prepared for in the conflict with Iran. Ending this conflict was always going to entail some compromises. The U.S.-Iran MOU is being oversold by virtually everyone. The tangible parts of it are a ceasefire, sanctions relief for Iran and the reopening of Hormuz. Everything else in the agreement is conditioned to good faith negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
The Houthis are a political-military faction and Zaydi religious movement founded in northwestern Yemen in the 1980s. A key member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance with links to other militant organizations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the group has continued to pose a threat to Western interests on a global scale.
This backgrounder provides an overview of how the Abraham Accords came about, the US interests involved, their economic and strategic consequences, and the prospects for further enlargement going forward.
After a decade of post-Arab Spring isolation, Turkey’s leaders have recognized that their ambition to position the country as an agenda-setter on the world stage requires active engagement in all directions. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s consolidation of executive authority has centralized foreign policy decision-making and tied it to his domestic political priorities, transforming the country’s revisionist approach to one shaped primarily by personal and pragmatic interests.
As the Western Sahara conflict reaches its fifth decade, the territorial dispute remains unresolved and largely unknown. MEI’s Intissar Fakir unpacks the Western Sahara’s complex history and the rival claims by Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. She examines recent developments, such as President Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory and the collapse of a 30-year cease-fire, as well as the core questions that remain unanswered after half a century.
Podcasts
Middle East Focus
MEI’s flagship weekly podcast on US foreign policy and contemporary political and social issues in the Middle East.
MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
The EU-Arab League Summit and the African migration crisis
When this month’s EU-Arab League Summit in Egypt was announced last September, the issue of African migration to Europe topped the agenda. Other high-priority issues have since been added — such as solving five regional conflicts and addressing security, trade, and multilateralism — but migration remains the highest priority for a Europe still reeling from the 2015 migrant crisis.
The Middle East summit in Warsaw: Dead on arrival?
The Middle East Summit held last week in Warsaw, Poland, has been heavily criticized as a meeting to bolster anti-Iranian sentiments, rather than a genuine attempt at peace negotiations. This carries serious implications for the Middle East as well as US-EU relations.
Kenneth Pollack, resident scholar at AEI, joins host Alistair Taylor to discuss his new book, Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness.
The current conflict in Afghanistan, the latest in a series of perpetual wars and episodes of civil strife over the past 40 years, is strategically stalemated. While the Taliban are willing to negotiate with the U.S. about the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, they continue to reject direct talks with the Afghan government for a political settlement. Even with inclusive peace talks, there is reason to question whether the Taliban’s vision of a future Afghan state and society can be reconciled with a liberal, democratic constitutional order.
Weekly Briefing: MBS South Asia swing aims to shore up relations
In this week’s briefing, MEI experts Gerald Feierstein, Charles Lister, Marvin G. Weinbaum, and W. Robert Pearson provide analysis on Saudi-Pakistan relations, Turkish politics in the lead-up to March municipal elections, and the question of what to do with ISIS prisoners after the group’s territorial collapse.
Since the intensive campaign of civil resistance that culminated in the January 2011 ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 24 years in power, Tunisia has undergone a political transition that has produced a new constitution, unharnessed civil society, and delivered much-needed political and economic reforms. Although the transition process has also included security sector reform (SSR), Tunisians remain insecure — subjected to a steady, unabated diet of everyday violence.
The ongoing civil conflict in Yemen is a continuation of a cycle of violence, political upheaval, and institutional collapse, caused by the failure of Yemeni society to address and resolve the popular anger and frustration arising from political marginalization, economic disenfranchisement, and the effects of an extractive, corrupt, rentier state.
Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin – Netanyahu began a mission to cultivate ties with African nations– through incentives of economic aid and defense technology– in order to strengthen Israel’s position in the international community. Chadian President Idriss Deby’s visit to Jerusalem in January is only one component of a long line of Israel-Africa visits and agreements.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan angles to gain further influence as a leader of the Sunni Islamic world through an unlikely vehicle – Islamic insurance, or takaful.
The suicide attack today, which killed at least 20 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, may have serious implications for the Iranian government’s ability to maintain the legitimacy of its regional intervention in the eyes of the Iranian people.
Pope Francis’s recent visit to the UAE is not only a landmark event for inter-religion relations and tolerance, but also represents a strategic geopolitical move by the Emirati government.
John Limbert, former Deputy Secretary of State for Iran under the Obama administration, and MEI senior fellows Alex Vatanka and Ahmad Majidyar join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the 1979 revolution and its continuing impact on US-Iran relations and the region.
Responding to Natural Disasters in the MENA Region and Asia: Rising to the Challenge?
A “disaster” refers to a sudden, calamitous event that disrupts the functioning of a community or an entire society. Natural disasters range from earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides to droughts, floods, and storm surges. Some disasters result from a complex combination of natural and man-made causes, and are typically characterized by extensive violence and mass displacement.
Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, and Sustainable Urban Adaptation in Arab Coastal Cities
This article highlights how the lesser-known issue of sea level rise makes Arab states increasingly vulnerable to climate change. Using the city of Doha as a case study to highlight how sea level rise represents a critical threat to many Arab coastal cities and a national security challenge to Gulf Arab nations, this article underscores the need for greater anticipation in the region’s urban planning of the risks posed by climate change and sea level rise.
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Ahmad Majidyar, Mirette F. Mabrouk, and Hassan Mneimneh provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, a proposal for constitutional amendments in Egypt, and Iraqi PM Abdul-Mahdi’s first 100 days in office.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
