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North Africa and Middle East

Description

Analysis of changing dynamics in the North Africa/Middle East region, against a backdrop of increasing security crises and their political, economic and energy consequences.

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Aerial view of Cairo, Egypt
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Israel's Immigrant Parties: An Inefficient Russia Lobby

Date de publication
21 December 2010
Accroche

Since 2009 the influence of immigrant party Israel Beiteinu on foreign and security policy in Israel has grown. The party won 15 seats in the 2009 parliamentary elections and its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, became the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Syria: Russia's Best Asset in the Middle East

Date de publication
09 November 2010
Accroche

Russia's foreign policy towards Syria and the Greater Middle East is generally not aggressive. It is a defensive policy aimed mainly at developing its traditional political and economic interests in the region and protecting its Southern borders.

Migrations, Remittances and Development - Comparing Experiences from Mexico and Maghreb

Date de publication
28 September 2010
Accroche

The potential synergy between development and migration has become a key feature of most international migration politics. However, this relationship is far from evident.

German Military Engagement in Afghanistan: Conditions, Assessment, Outlook

Date de publication
31 July 2010
Accroche

Since the beginning of 2010, German authorities have become conscious of the fact that they cannot continue to maintain the Bundeswehr’s involvement in Afghanistan with a majority of the German population opposing it. It is clearly understood that the federal government and the Bundestag will adhere to President Obama’s plans to gradually withdraw national troops from ISAF, starting in the summer of 2011, and to hand over complete control of the country’s security to Afghani authorities.

The United States' Economic Strategy and Presence in the Maghreb

Date de publication
24 June 2010
Accroche

Before the 9/11 events, US-Maghreb relations were growing stronger, especially after the United States had long left the floor to the Maghreb’s “natural” European partner. Therefore, the American action in this region was in line with a mechanism previously set off by Clinton Administration member, Stuart Eizenstat, which aimed at reducing intra-regional obstacles and stimulating American investments towards an area where Americans were little-represented. Hence Washington seemed more involved in promoting the emergence of a strong, world-economy-integrated Maghrebi market.

Trafficking in the Sahel-Saharan Zone: Features and Stakes

Date de publication
24 June 2010
Accroche

On November 5th 2009, a cocaine-loaded Boeing 727 aircraft arriving from Venezuela was discovered torched and emptied on a makeshift airstrip in the Malian desert (Gao region). The Sahel-Saharan area is clearly a contact zone between very distant worlds.

Chinese and Indian Economic Presence in the Maghreb

Date de publication
24 June 2010
Accroche

One of the major events of the last couple of decades has been the rise of China and India, reflected by their increasingly important economic presence in the world, both in terms of trade flows and of foreign direct investments.

Africa, which has long remained the former colonial powers" “private hunting ground”, does not seem to escape from Indian and Chinese presence and activity, hence worrying Africa"s traditional partners.

Arabs and Tuaregs in Colonial and Malian Armed Forces: A Story in Trompe-l'Oeil

Date de publication
24 June 2010
Accroche

This contribution consists in analyzing the unifying or opposing relations between the central State-power and the southern part of central-Saharan populations, mainly Arabs and Tuaregs, within the relational framework of colonial and Malian armed forces. The French Colonial State and the Malian independent State (from the 1960 independence movement) are both considered by Arabs and Tuaregs as external entities, whatever the form of their relation, good or bad.

Maghreb Countries' Economic Projection on Sub-Saharan Africa

Date de publication
24 June 2010
Accroche

While largely interrupted by the colonial period premise, trade relations between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa have enjoyed a new boom with the independence era. However, until the end of the 1990s, the African policy of the three Maghreb countries significantly impacted their economic projection.

Tuaregs' Relations to States: The Case of Algeria and Libya

Date de publication
24 June 2010
Accroche

The industrial revolution underwent by Europe in the 18th century has triggered the need for the major colonial powers to find new markets for their manufactured products. It is in this colonial competitive framework that European explorers delivered information about the different access roads, as well as the Tuareg tribes, notably the Kel Ajjer and the Kel Ahaggar.

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Related centers and programs
Image principale
KAMPALA, UGANDA - SEPTEMBER 28, 2012. A look at life on the side streets of Kampala, Uganda
Governing the Urban Transition in Africa
Accroche centre

Sub-Saharan Africa's cities are experiencing the fastest growth rates in the world. By 2050, most of the countries in the region will have made an urban transition, meaning that more than 50% of their population will live in urban areas. Urban growth is often presented as a cornerstone of the continent's socio-economic development.

To assess these challenges Ifri’s Sub-Saharan Africa Center is launching, in May 2022, a research program looking into the major socio-economic and geopolitical challenges of urban dynamics on the continent.

The program deals with urban development in Africa through a sectoral and cross-cutting approach based on three key sectors: 

  1. Land issues are the foundation of urban life. Each urban project triggers changes within the relationship between land and its inhabitants.
  2. Urban infrastructure is often presented as a solution to the challenges of demographic growth in cities. However, the lack of infrastructure and its financing remains a concern for specialists.
  3. The mobility of goods, people and financial flows is characteristic of urban life and drives the multiple links between cities and the countryside. Analyzing the urban-rural continuum is at the heart of this program's objectives.

Research will be conducted at the macro (continental), meso (country), and micro (city/neighborhood) levels and will be promoted through events and publications.

Image principale
Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Türkiye
Turkey/Middle East Program
Accroche centre

Ifri's Turkey/Middle East Program aims to provide expertise on the trends and developments in politics, societies and economies across the region.

The programme has the following objectives:

  • Proposing a new approach towards the MENA region through an analysis of local, regional, and international dynamics with the potential to guide and influence new policies.
  • Highlighting the role of foreign powers which have traditionally been present in the region and analyzing the new role taken on by emerging countries ;
  • Anticipating new directions and outlooks in each country.
  • Interpreting risks and potentials and putting forward new templates for analysis.

The programme has built a dense network of researchers and experts who provide expertise on the MENA region and working together on a range of crosscutting themes.

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Aerial view of Cairo, Egypt
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