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North Africa

Commentary
Libya Needs U.S. Help for Security
By adopting a laissez-faire policy toward security in Libya after the war, the United States and its allies who helped the Libyan rebels topple Gadhafi share in the responsibility for the country’s current predicament, writes Christopher Chivvis.
May 13, 2013
Commentary
When Armies Divide: Securing Nuclear Arsenals During Internal Upheavals
With an army divided, any type of foreign intervention would be complex and fraught with extraordinary risk—success would be a long shot. But the loss of a nuclear weapon or fissile material would change the world.
Apr 12, 2013
Commercial Book
When Armies Divide: The Security of Nuclear Arsenals During Revolts, Coups, and Civil Wars
This book examines the security of nuclear arsenals during revolts, coups, and civil wars.
Apr 11, 2013
Blog
A New Book from Brian Michael Jenkins: When Armies Divide
In 1961, four French generals launched a coup against the government of President Charles de Gaulle and conceivably might have ended up with a nuclear device. In When Armies Divide, RAND's Brian Michael Jenkins uses this unusual chapter in history to discuss what can happen when nuclear states are threatened by revolts, coups, and civil wars.
Apr 11, 2013
Blog
In Brief: Jeffrey Martini on Mapping Egyptian Politics
In this video, RAND Middle East analyst Jeffrey Martini discusses what past electoral performance and the current political context say about the Islamists' strength in Egypt and what it means for the United States.
Apr 8, 2013
Report
Voting Patterns in Post-Mubarak Egypt
An analysis of regional voting trends in Egypt—where Islamist parties run strongest, and where non-Islamists are most competitive—indicates that Egypt is headed toward a much more competitive political environment in which Islamists will be increasingly challenged to maintain their electoral edge.
Mar 22, 2013
Blog
New RAND Study Examines Voting Patterns in Post-Mubarak Egypt
While much has been written on the electoral strength of Islamists in Egypt, most of the analysis has been done at the national level, ignoring regional divides within the country. A new report identifies the areas where Islamist parties run strongest, and the areas where non-Islamists are most competitive.
Mar 22, 2013
Commentary
Unlearning the Lessons of Iraq
Trepidation about boots-on-the-ground engagement has unnecessarily forestalled even small-scale efforts to repair Libya's fractured security environment....Meanwhile, in Syria, the over-learned lessons of Iraq are taking an even more serious toll, writes Christopher Chivvis.
Mar 14, 2013
Commentary
Europe and African Defense
A successful partnership within Europe, as well as between Europe and the US, to overcome extremism and terrorism in North and North Central Africa could provide allies with a sense of common purpose and a model of unified effort, writes Harold Brown.
Feb 28, 2013
Commentary
Al Qaeda Is Weak and Bungling—but Still Dangerous
The swift march into Mali by a band of Islamist thugs demonstrates an efficient, opportunistic filling of a security vacuum more than an increase in jihadist power or influence, writes Andy Liepman.
Feb 26, 2013
Commentary
Anxious Whispers in Tripoli
The clock is ticking for Libya's future, writes Christopher Chivvis. Libya's government is dysfunctional, armed militias control much of the country, and the population is increasingly frustrated with the pace of postwar progress.
Feb 18, 2013
Commentary
NATO, US Must Shore Up Libya
A smaller-scale training mission to help the Libyan government build reliable forces that will answer to the country's elected leadership would do much to help the Libyan state get control over its own territory, writes Christopher Chivvis.
Feb 15, 2013
Commentary
What Does the Amenas Attack Mean for U.S. Policy in Africa?
Coinciding with continuing, contentious hearings on the U.S. response to last September's terrorist attack in Benghazi, the attack on the Amenas natural gas facility in Algeria has elevated a more general debate about the war on terrorism and U.S. policy in Africa, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
Jan 31, 2013
Commentary
The Dynamics of the Hostage Situation at Amenas
Looking at the turmoil in Libya following Qaddafi's removal; the overthrow of governments in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen; and Syria's ongoing civil war, it is easy to see why the Algerian government would view any manifestation of an Islamist resurgence as a threat that had to be promptly crushed, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
Jan 30, 2013
Commentary
The Motivations Behind the Amenas Terrorist Attack
An attack of this complexity would have required months of reconnaissance, planning, recruiting of inside confederates, and training of participants. France's intervention in Mali was used to “justify” an attack that would likely have taken place anyway, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
Jan 29, 2013
Commentary
Foreign Intervention in Mali Is Libya in Reverse
France is in Mali not just to prop up a failing state in French Africa, but because Mali was becoming a magnet for jihadis from around the world and Paris rightly feared the country could become the next Afghanistan—only much closer to Europe, writes Christopher Chivvis.
Jan 25, 2013
Q&A
The al Qaeda Threat in North Africa
Last week's terrorist attack at the In Amenas gas complex in Algeria, along with the recent success of the militant groups fighting government forces in Mali, indicate al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are gaining influence in North Africa. RAND experts weigh in on the latest developments.
Jan 24, 2013
Commentary
Hostage Taking Exposes Terror Threat in Africa
There is a danger in viewing Mali through the prism of counter-terrorism, since the rebel element there is tangled up in movements and groups with a wide variety of interests and motives, ranging from sincere religious conviction to local political rivalries to base economic opportunism, writes Michael Shurkin.
Jan 18, 2013
Commentary
The Mirage of the Arab Spring
Like it or not, the United States counts among its allies a number of authoritarian Arab countries, and they are essential partners in protecting its interests, writes Seth G. Jones. The normative hope that liberal democracy may flourish in the future must be balanced by the need to work with governments and societies as they exist today.
Jan 3, 2013
Commentary
Egypt's Constitutional Referendum Was an Opportunity Lost
The Egyptian process left no room for broad deliberation of the constitutional issues, or even for educating citizens about the text of the document on which they were asked to vote, writes Laurel Miller.
Dec 21, 2012

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RAND Topic:
North Africa

Topic Synonyms:
Northern Africa

Research conducted by

Center for Middle East Public Policy