War in Sudan: Will the state model be usurped by militias?
About ten years ago, Sudanese Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein presented the Sudanese parliament with his ministry’s payroll report. However, his presentation was more than a ministerial performance statement; it reflected the performance of the state. He openly expressed..
Coming Back Is Not Going Home: Return and Displacement after the fall of the Assad-Regime
Coming Back Is Not Going Home: Return and Displacement after the Fall of the Assad Regime. The Syrian uprising began with demands for dignity, social justice, and political agency — claims crushed by war, forced flight, and geopolitical instrumentalisation. One..
Religion and Morals in Sisi’s New Republic
Over the past weeks, Egyptian authorities renewed their crackdown on TikTok content creators and social media influencers. The police have already carried out dozens of arrests, including that of a student in Sharqiyya accused of making ‘offensive’ comments online, and..
Algorithm-proof freedom: what’s behind North Africa’s data laws
The meteoric rise of digital technologies and the massive collection of personal data have profoundly altered relations between citizens, governments and companies. In the countries of North Africa and the Middle East, these changes raise fundamental questions: How can individual..
Algeria–EU: Arbitrating a Historical Imbalance
In July 2025, the European Union officially initiated a dispute settlement procedure against Algeria within the framework of their association agreement. This move follows several years of commercial tensions, especially over imports, investments, and Algeria’s industrial strategy. Behind this legal..
The Secret Warfare Techniques of the United Arab Emirates in Libya and Sudan
Introduction Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya emerged as a strategic battleground for regional and international powers. Among them, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has built a discreet yet consistent—and above all decisive—presence there, at the..
A Mother’s Last Stand: Laila Soueif’s Hunger Strike for Freedom
On her 248th day without food, Dr. Laila Soueif lies gaunt yet unyielding in a London hospital bed. The 69-year-old mathematics professor, and mother of imprisoned Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, has lost 42% of her body weight and faces..
Tripoli, a city state on the Brink
To understand what is unfolding today in the streets of Tripoli, one must go back fourteen years. Since the brutal fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has lived in a state of chronic political fragmentation. A collapsed state, where..
Politics and society from the Dark decade to the Hirak I North Africa Talks Podcast
Discover the complexities of Algerian politics in our latest episode with Professor Michael J. Willis. We explore the Hirak movement and its implications for the future of Algeria. Don’t miss this insightful discussion!
The Backfire Effect: Trump’s Tariffs and the Rise of the Global South
When President Trump imposed “reciprocal tariffs” on April 2nd, framed as a “liberation day” for American workers, he inadvertently launched something far bigger: the Global South’s emancipation from economic vassalage. The self-inflicted wound While Trump’s declared intention was..
Refugee Regime in Upheaval
Algeria has followed Egypt’s path and started drafting an asylum law. Yet, such a law will neither improve the precarious situation of people on the move nor effectively counter Algeria’s deportation practices The architecture of northern Africa’s migration control..
The North African Foreign Fighter Returnees After the Fall of al-Assad’s Regime: Risks, Challenges and Scenarios
Introduction: On December 10, 2024, and following a lightening offensive spearheaded by Harakat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), the most powerful Syrian armed rebel group adhering to Salafi ideology , the Bashar al-Assad regime collapsed. A few days later, a..