Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Socioeconomic and political obstacles have long inhibited successful security sector reforms in Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Understanding these factors and drawing lessons from previously aborted DDR/SSR efforts is crucial to avoid future pitfalls and a possible relapse into conflict.
There is no question that Washington’s position in the broader Middle East was dented by the fiasco in Afghanistan. Ultimately, however, U.S. assets in the region are still unrivaled: the United States’ political and economic influence, hard power, soft power, embrace of multilateral diplomacy, and leadership of a rules-based global order continue to give it the upper hand over all its rivals.
The challenge for Western policymakers is to avoid viewing Russian activism in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa through an exclusively zero-sum lens. The region’s political disarray, complexities, and especially the unpredictability of local rulers all present built-in buffers to Russian influence—as they do to all external players.
Join us for an in-depth conversation with leading scholars on U.S., China, and Africa policy to discuss whether the BRI and B3W can address Africa’s financing needs and how to avoid the negative spillovers of great power competition on the African continent.
In June 2017, Saudi authorities at the immigration counter at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah pulled aside for questioning two young Libyan men who were flying back to Libya after performing the umrah pilgrimage.
Recent diplomatic progress offers Libya an uncertain but real chance at better days ahead. Modest U.S. support could improve the chances that this opening succeeds.
The complex relations between the state and Islamic institutions in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco shed light on evolving governance and have important implications for Western policies of countering violent extremism and conflict resolution.
Russia is in the Mediterranean to stay. As long as the Kremlin remains locked in a tense standoff with NATO, it will aim to prevent the alliance from dominating the region.
Tunisia's informal trade networks reflect growing trends: the country's progressive shift away from Europe, and the rise of Turkey and China as major trade partners.
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