Violent Protests in Iraq
Bottom Line Up Front Iraq has been convulsed by growing protests this week over corruption, widespread unemployment, and the government’s inability to provide basic […] More
Algeria
Comparing Algeria and Sudan’s Popular Revolutions
Bottom Line Up Front Against all odds, the popular revolts in Sudan and Algeria both succeeded in forcing the removal of their long-time autocratic […] More
Signs of Redemption Amidst Arab Political Upheavals
The anti-regime convulsions currently underway in Algeria and Sudan are the latest version of an “Arab Spring” that erupted in 2011 and that Arab autocrats […] More
Sisi Consolidates Power in Egypt
Bottom Line Up Front On April 16, Egypt’s parliament passed amendments to the Constitution that provide President al-Sisi with a path forward to maintain […] More
The Latest
Has the Arab Spring Finally Reached Algeria?
Bottom Line Up Front On 2 April 2019, Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his immediate resignation, ending his nearly 20-year rule. For decades, real […] More
Governments Shut Down Internet Access to Stem Protests
Bottom Line Up Front A growing number of countries are taking steps to limit internet access for their citizens to suppress unrest and anti-government […] More
Algeria Takes the Lead in Libya
That Libya is a mess is beyond doubt, but who is actually trying to resolve the conflict is a harder question to answer. U.S. President […] More
AQIM Ten Years On
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) emergence ten years ago this month was a Hail Mary. In 2004, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had orchestrated […] More
Algeria: A Bulwark Against ISIS
With the Islamic State (ISIS) facing imminent defeat in its Libyan stronghold of Sirte, questions have arisen over where the group might seek refuge next. […] More
Obstacles to ISIS Expansion
On September 21, 2014, a group of Algerian jihadists, named Jund El Khilafa (The soldiers of the Caliphate) kidnapped Hervé Gourdel, a 55-year-old French nature […] More
Is Algeria Next for the Islamic State?
Fighting jihadi groups has been compared more than once to whack-a-mole. You thump a group here and it pops up there. You thump it again […] More
Algeria: Exporting Stability
Terrorism is spreading westward from the Middle East and East Africa to countries like Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Cote d’Ivoire. In Libya, the Islamic […] More
A New Economic Model
Since 2014, Algeria has been facing a major economic threat to its stability, as the 98 percent of its export revenue coming from hydrocarbons has […] More
Strong U.S. Ally in a Chaotic Region
With the recent decline in oil prices, many predicted that Algeria would come under a real threat of instability. Indeed, if one were to believe […] More
North Africa: Instability Increasing
Four years after the Arab Spring, the security environment across North Africa remains dire. “The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for […] More
Social Unrest Disrupting Energy Sector
After having been idled by sit-ins for four years, Tunisia’s state-owned phosphate mines are open again. Why they closed was just one example of a […] More
North Africa: Greater Risk in the Near Term
The Cipher Brief sat down with Haim Malka, the Deputy Director of and Senior Fellow for the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic […] More