This summer, brutally hot temperatures, deepening water scarcity, and spiking fertilizer costs have put North Africa’s agricultural sector under intense pressure. Host Alistair Taylor is joined by Mohammed Mahmoud, CEO and founder of the Climate and Water Initiative and lead for Middle East Climate and Water Policy at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health, to unpack the region’s food and water security challenges. Drawing on Mahmoud’s new report card on agricultural sustainability in North Africa, they explore the diverging picture across the region, why some countries have weathered the strain better than others, and what it will take to build a more resilient and secure food system.
From Brightest Hope to Open-Air Prison: How Tunisia Lost Its Democratic Promise
Thousands of Tunisians marched in the capital last week against what they called ‘injustice and repression,’ accusing President Kais Saied of cementing one-man rule through the police and judiciary. The protest is part of a wider wave of unrest—journalists, NGOs, fractured political parties, doctors, bankers, and transport workers all say Saied has turned the country into an open-air prison and demand relief from Tunisia’s deepening political and economic crisis.
Sovereignty first: Reshaping international cooperation in North Africa
Countries in North Africa and around the world are increasingly prioritizing a strict definition of sovereignty and tending toward transactional diplomacy. Understanding the motivations behind North Africa’s “sovereignty-first” approach can help the United States and Europe build mutually beneficial and durable links with the region in this new reality.
With the decree of a new election law on Sept. 15, President Kais Saied continues rebuilding the formal political mechanisms of the Tunisian state — what some see as a “third republic.” The new law sets the terms for the legislative elections scheduled to be held on Dec. 17, 2022, and it comes only shortly before nominations for candidacies for those elections begin on Oct. 17.
What's next for Tunisia after the constitutional referendum?
On July 25 Tunisians approved a new constitution that will give the president, Kais Saied, expansive new powers, centralizing control of the country while removing many of the existing checks and balances. According to figures from the state electoral body, an estimated 94% of those who voted in the national referendum approved the measure, although turnout, which officials put at 30.5%, was relatively light. Following on from the vote, here’s what can be expected moving forward.
Intissar Fakir is joined by Marwa Haddar and Fadil Aliriza to discuss the economic issues Tunisia is facing, international financial institutions’ role in the crisis, and the government’s actions, or lack thereof, to help the country.
Since the beginning of 2022, Tunisian President Kais Saied has issued decrees reshaping the judiciary in a way that further subordinates it to the executive branch of government. Saied claims that his aim is to “cleanse” it of corruption and other forms of wrongdoing, yet judges counter that the president is interfering in the judiciary and intimidating judges.
أُخُوة يخنقها العداء: التنافس الجزائري المغربي وتحديات الاندماج المغاربي
صَدم وزير الخارجية الجزائري، رمطان لعمامرة، العالم بإعلانه القطع المفاجئ للعلاقات الدبلوماسية بين الجزائر والرباط، بعد ثلاثة عقود من تجاور بارد بين القوتين المغاربيتين. واتهم لعمامرة، في بيان رسمي، تلاه أواخر أغسطس/آب 2021، المغرب بالتخلي عن التزامه بتنظيم استفتاء لتقرير المصير في الصحراء الغربية، من بين ما أسماه “أعمال عدائية ومشينة” أخرى ارتكبها ضد الجزائر.
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.
