A massive shift in the geo-political status quo in North Africa has placed the United States in the passenger’s, not the pilot’s, seat. No longer does Washington, not even as a co-pilot with the French, influence the actions of key actors in North African affairs. The shift in the North African chessboard is the result…
Political transition in the Middle East and North Africa operates so far on the principle of ‘The King is dead, long live the King.’ Libya’s battle for Tripoli alongside ongoing mass anti-government demonstrations that toppled autocratic leaders of Algeria and Sudan demonstrate that both popular Arab protests that in 2011 forced four presidents out of…
A little more than a decade ago, I was asked to address a London dinner-table of about twenty Gulf ‘figures’ – a mix of Ambassadors and those with ‘ties to power’. All represented the cosmopolitan, rich élite of the Gulf. Then, towards the evening’s end, talk turned to Hizbullah: the gathering simply erupted into flames….
With the presidential election day approaching in Algeria, the sheer number of political forces aiming to secure power in this troubled state leaves geopolitical analysts bewildered and confused. Those trying hard to explain the situation that slips out of control rapidly are also trying to establish who was behind the recent anti-government protests on top…
Algeria has long been the forgotten nation of North Africa. But now, it is bursting into the news as the latest example of popular revolution in the woefully misgoverned Arab word. After seven weeks of mass street protests, Algeria’s ruler for the past two decades, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, finally faced the inevitable and resigned after a…
The international medias are discovering with astonishment the reality of the Algerian Power that, until now, they have worked to hide. This Power is not the prize of a single clan, but that of several men of whom the figure of President Bouteflika is the central balancing point. In Algerian Power, who defends what? These…
