North Africa

Mrs. Ballarin's War

The improbable tale of a West Virginia heiress the Pentagon hired to take on Somalia's jihadists.

BY MARK MAZZETTI | APRIL 15, 2013

Springtime for Salafists

Rampaging Islamist vigilantes are cracking down on free expression -- and ruining Tunisia's Arab Spring.

BY DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS | MARCH 26, 2013

The Tip of the Democracy Spear

The U.S. military doesn’t exactly have an unblemished record when it comes to promoting democracy. Is there a way to change that?

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | MARCH 21, 2013

Lost in the Desert

What does the Obama administration make of Egypt's Mohamed Morsy? Not much. But they've still got to figure out how to work with him.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 15, 2013

Speak Softly and Let Others Carry the Big Stick

The problem with the 'light footprint' approach to U.S. military policy.

BY JONATHAN MORGENSTEIN | MARCH 6, 2013

Lessons Learned (and Not)

Seven things we've learned after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | MARCH 4, 2013

What Is Egypt?

As America's new secretary of state arrives in Cairo, it's still not clear the United States knows what it's dealing with.

BY STEVEN A. COOK | MARCH 1, 2013

There is no Indonesia Model for the Arab Spring

Yes, Muslim-majority Indonesia has made a successful transition to democracy. But no, that doesn’t make it an example for the Arab Spring.

BY TOM PEPINSKY | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Tribes With Flags

How the Arab Spring has exposed the myth of Arab statehood.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

It's Not About Us

Forget about the “war on terror.” The next few decades will be dominated by the bitter divide within Islam itself.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Marianne in Tunisia

How Delacroix's famous painting explains the troubled North African revolution.

BY ROBERT ZARETSKY | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Revolution, Interrupted

There's a reason Egyptians keep taking to the streets: The Muslim Brotherhood has proved to be little more than the old Mubarak clique with beards.

BY HANI SHUKRALLAH | FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Twitter Devolutions

How social media is hurting the Arab Spring.

BY MARC LYNCH | FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Martyrs of the Revolution

If history is any guide, today’s assassination in Tunisia could set off a dangerous revolutionary dynamic.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | FEBRUARY 6, 2013

The Egyptian Treadmill

Why Washington isn’t panicking about Egypt’s latest crisis.

BY MARC LYNCH | JANUARY 31, 2013

The First Lab Results Are In

Democracy Lab is celebrating its first anniversary. Here are some of the things we've learned over the past year -- and where we're headed in year two.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JANUARY 31, 2013

The Republic of Port Said

An insurrection along the Suez Canal represents the greatest threat yet to the Muslim Brotherhood's rule in Egypt.

BY EVAN C. HILL | JANUARY 30, 2013

Think Again: The Muslim Brotherhood

How did so many Western analysts get Egypt's Islamist movement so wrong?

BY ERIC TRAGER | JANUARY 28, 2013

The Revolution Continues

Egypt is witnessing the slow-motion collapse of a stagnant and brutal political order.

BY CHARLES HOLMES | JANUARY 25, 2013

Flyover Country

Why the United States can't just drone Algeria.

BY MICAH ZENKO | JANUARY 22, 2013

The Eradicateurs

Why Algeria doesn't talk to terrorists -- even if that means killing hostages.

BY GEOFF D. PORTER | JANUARY 18, 2013

Avoiding War Number Two in Liberia

A war-torn country is not a broken country. How Liberia pulled off its 2005 election.

BY MICHAEL SCHARFF | JANUARY 11, 2013

Does Obama Have a Middle East Strategy?

If not, what should it be?

BY MARC LYNCH | JANUARY 10, 2013

The Year the Arab Spring Went Bad

Hopes for a democratic Middle East have faltered amid sectarian animosities and ideological divisions. Did it have to be this way?

BY F. GREGORY GAUSE, III | DECEMBER 31, 2012

'These Guys Are Thugs'

Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei speaks exclusively to Foreign Policy on the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt's political crisis.

Interview by DAVID KENNER | DECEMBER 18, 2012

Keeping the Light On

Celebrating Hannukah with the last Jews in Egypt.

BY BEN GITTLESON | DECEMBER 17, 2012

The Last Stand of Somalia's Jihad

Can Kenya's invasion of Kismayo put an end to al-Shabab for good?

BY JAMES VERINI | DECEMBER 17, 2012

On the Front Line in Kismayo

Photos from the crucial Somali port city, after its liberation from the hands of al-Shabab.

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Beating the Brotherhood

Egypt's long-suffering opposition is fighting back against the Islamist government. But can they get their act together in time?

BY EVAN HILL | DECEMBER 17, 2012

The Brothers and the Gulf

Why the Muslim Brotherhood has Gulf leaders worried -- now more than ever.

BY SULTAN AL QASSEMI | DECEMBER 14, 2012