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For nearly a century, the West has approached the Middle East with strategic interests — but little genuine understanding. From coups to regime changes to failed red lines, each intervention has produced unintended consequences. Maybe it’s time we admit: the problem isn’t the region. It’s us.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Israel has been battering with increasing intensity, were inevitably a prime target after decades of violent subversion often enacted with the aid of that other enemy of the West: Russia. The IRGC may be in its final throes.
Washington increasingly lukewarm. EU security is not a priority, so the future of NATO is at stake. Trump asks allies to increase military spending but the EU remains disoriented and uncertain.
A recent video of a woman being tortured in Libyan refugee camps is further proof that agreements signed by the EU and Italy with Libyan and Tunisian authorities are doing more harm than good. But the work of associations like Refugees in Libya shows that there is still some hope for the future, writes Don Mattia Ferrari, a Catholic priest who works closely with these NGOs.
Following the collapse of the Assad regime, Tunisia and other countries are concerned about the return of thousands of jihadist nationals believed to have been held in Syria. Amid overcrowded prisons and fears of extremism, what are governments in Tunis and other Arab countries doing to prepare for their potential return?
The Middle East needs a vision that emanates from the region itself, and includes clear reassurances to all parties.
Here, the opportunity appears for Egypt, which can play a vital role in helping neighboring countries shape this vision, after the Middle East that we knew since the Cold War has gone forever.
In the Middle East and North Africa, divisions are as stark as they can be. War-torn nations stand side-by-side with wealthy oil-rich countries where the elites feel disconnected from the rest of the region. But, as Yemeni freelance journalist and a human rights defender Afrah Nasser, warns, these inequalities breed monsters, and wealth will not prevent oil-rich countries from experiencing chaos and destruction.
The Refugees in Libya movement has posted shocking images to awaken our consciences. But here, all is silent, and the hope for humanity is entrusted to a Europe that is reborn from the bottom up.
The practice of sending humanitarian aid to foreign countries has always been political, but Morocco’s decision to refuse offers of search-and-rescue teams raises questions about national sovereignty and politics in times of crisis.
The devastating flood in Libya is the result of the climate crisis, worsened by the country’s poor infrastructure, the legacy of European colonialism. These disasters will only become more frequent.
Since 2015, Europe’s strategy to stop irregular migration has focused on arresting so-called smugglers. But those steering the vessels are usually desperate migrants themselves, forced to take the helm.
BENGHAZI — They call it the “Café of the Displaced,” and it’s always full. “It’s because my customers followed me here,” says Ahmed, a smile on his face as he pours a clever blend of coffee, cream, cocoa powder and sugar. Everybody’s known Ahmed for years. And they know his story, which is also the […]
SIRTE — If it were theater, it would be bad theater. Too incongruous, too unreal. The stage — buildings in ruins all along the boulevard — just doesn’t fit the happiness on the people’s faces. Some are busy decorating their cars with ribbons for a wedding. Others are drinking coffee or shopping. The cars are […]
Hundreds of thousands of refugees want to reach Europe via Libya, constituting a billion dollar trade option for smugglers. But a local warlord, armed with only one boat and plenty of opaque motives, has declared war on the trafficking gangs.
TRIPOLI — As the sun sets on the Libyan capital, the sky takes on an ochre shade over the old city walls surrounding Martyr’s Square. Children play on carousels and the muezzin’s call to prayer fills the air, booming from loudspeakers in the streets. It’s an arresting scene that — for a moment — makes […]
-OpEd- ROME — The ongoing crisis in Libya poses the gravest threat to Italian national security, for multiple reasons. Halting flows of undocumented migrants and maintaining energy security are important, but a far more fundamental interest is at stake: ensuring that Libya recovers from chronic instability and civil war and avoids becoming a safe haven […]
MISRATA — This Libyan coastal city is bearing the brunt of the ongoing offensive to defeat the Islamic State in its nearby stronghold of Sirte. Flooded with hundreds of injured people streaming in from the fighting, its recently renovated central hospital is buckling under the pressure. With only 120 beds, two operating rooms, and a […]
MISRATA — The weather is fair as the moon hangs over a family home in Misrata. The al-Rufai’s tiled courtyard, with its table and plastic chairs, and a vine shoot wrapped around the arbor, feels strangely peaceful this evening. Inside a dismantled Libya, the enclosure is an unexpected oasis, a welcome safe-haven against the chaos. […]
SABRATHA — It’s just past 10 p.m., and Omar, Mohammed and Isa are driving on the Mediterranean coast highway that links the Libyan capital of Tripoli with the Tunisian border. In the distance, flares of burning natural gas emanating from the Mellitah oil terminal light up the pitch black night. The three men, all in […]
GASR GARABULLI — Migrant #322 slowly lifts his head and opens his eyes. The long shadow of the sun, punctuated by the jail’s metal bars, bathes the cement walls as the blue sky seeps through the metal grate ceiling. It’s silent in the cells, except for the faint sound of children crying in the distance […]
Ahead of Sunday’s talks in Rome on the Libyan crisis, the U.S. and Italy stress that a lasting solution to the ISIS threat must include Arab allies — and Moscow.
MISRATA — It’s a strange city where 15-year-old kids can be seen jumping behind the wheel of semi-wrecked cars, where the scenery they pass is made mostly of building facades blackened by mortar shells. In Misrata, the screeches of tires at the roundabout resemble the piercing sound of war sirens. The Libyan revolution here is […]
GARABULLI — Two unfinished houses on the sand, facing a Mediterranean sea in shades of grey. So this is where they left from. According to various Libyan sources, the vessel carrying more than 800 people left Libya on what became its fateful crossing between Saturday April 18 and Sunday 19 from this long stretch of […]
Deadly attacks in Tripoli are prompting fears that ISIS is spreading north and west. Others however warn of the spectre of a “counter-revolution” of Gaddafi nostalgics similar to what’s happened in Egypt.
-Analysis- Over the past few days, armed gangs have been setting Libya ablaze. The slogans sound familiar: “May the martyr’s blood not be shed in vain!” Nothing could be less certain. The country is sinking into chaos, and many Libyans say things are worse than the era of Muammar Gaddafi — the dictator who was […]
Hundreds of thousands of Libyans fled to Tunisia after the 2011 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. A visit with those who mourn the fallen dictator, including his relatives.
ZUWARAH — Proudly dressed in his military uniform, Ali Abou Soud looks out toward the sea as cargo ships sail around in circles off the coast of this Libyan town. “That one,” he points out, “is sailing under the Sierra Leone flag.” The 26-year-old dentist explains why he has stopped working for the past two […]
Thursday, July 17, 2014 GAZA’S SHORT-LIVED CEASEFIRE A temporary ceasefire that was planned to last at least five hours was broken less than three hours after it started, with the southern Israeli town of Eshkol targeted by what the Israeli military says were three mortars. The Guardian says there are conflicting reports about the attack […]
A French war correspondent’s new book recounts the horrors of the Libyan dictator’s rape and torture of women, which was yet another way to subjugate the population.
BENGHAZI – At noon, the poster with the Kalashnikov is still hanging under the veranda: “People of Benghazi, return your weapons to Freedom Square from ten in the morning until seven in the evening.” The Minister of the Interior has asked. The Defense Ministry has asked. The Religious Affairs Ministry has asked. There was even […]