Flashpoint: Geopolitics Simplified by Arezki Daoud

The visit of President Emmanuel Macron to Algiers at the end of August  shook up and challenged the Algerian authorities in their once again  excellent relations with Russia. The French security and ministerial  deployment that accompanied the trip of the French president and the  most recent visit of a delegation of 16 French ministers to Algiers, was  intended to solicit Algerian help to stop the Russian advance in the  Sahel and West Africa and its deployment in Mali. And that’s how  competition between Paris and Moscow on the heart and soul of Algeria  has been intensifying.

The past months have been particularly horrendous for Lebanon, a country that used to be called the Switzerland of the Arab World. The demise of Lebanon is not only a reflection of a deeply corrupt regime and a divided nation, but it is also synonymous of an Arab world where its leaders have no concept of solidarity. In this 8-minute podcast, Arezki shares his views on the current turmoil facing Lebanon.

The Sahelian nation of Burkina Faso has been a powder keg for some time  and this weekend, the coup leader that toppled the previous government  has been himself toppled by another coup. The situation in Burkina’s  capital, Ouagadougou, has been extremely tense lately, with protesters  attempting to raid the French embassy there, as France remains highly  unpopular due to its policies in its former colonies. On Friday, 30th of  September 2022, the security crisis in Burkina Faso spiraled out of  control when low-ranking military officers announced their toppling of  the junta leader, Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba. In this brief podcast, MEA  Risk and The North Africa Journal's Arezki Daoud analyzes the current  situation in Burkina and provides a brief outlook.

The escalating rivalry between Algeria and Morocco has had a  destabilizing effect on the Maghreb region of North Africa. In fact, the  entire western Mediterranean region is feeling the impact of the two  countries’ strange competitive postures. Instead of cooperating to  improve the living standards of their populations, the two countries  have created a toxic environment in the Mediterranean allowing human  smuggling, illegal emigration and drug trafficking to overwhelm parts of  southern Europe, to say the least. In this podcast, Arezki Daoud,  principal analyst at MEA Risk LLC and Editor of The North Africa Journal  unpacks some of the realities surrounding the competition between  Algeria and Morocco for the influence of the Maghreb region.

The year 2021 was a horrendous period for the region. All the problems that one can imagine were there, from the massacre of civilians to two military coups in Mali and of course, an aggressive expansion of the jihadist groups.  Early last year saw the massacre of more than 100 people in two villages of northwestern Niger, in an area bordering Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.  The targeting of civilians is now so intense that more civilians were killed than soldiers. Between January and November 2021, no fewer than 600 civilians in Niger were slaughtered in terrorist attacks, mainly conducted by an Islamic State offshoot. The figures of this year's killings are shilling: 200 people were killed in March in a single operation in the Tahoua region, in northwestern Niger. Another 160 civilians were killed in June in the village of Solhan, northeastern Burkina Faso.

In this podcast, MEA Risk analyst and editor of The North Africa Journal, Arezki Daoud, address the Sahel's descent to chaos as we start the year 2022.

Tunisia Revisited: MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud reviews where Tunisia stands as of November 2021 in the areas of social and economic development.

There has been unusual interest in the west about the political  crisis engulfing Tunisia this week. Naturally Tunisia was always seen  the cradle of the Jasmin Revolution, and the nation that showed the best  prospect of democratization. But this week, the president froze the  parliament for one month and dismissed the prime minister, moves that  were greeted with great jubilation by a large swath of the Tunisian  population, but also seen by many, including some foreign observers as  steps to kill the prospect of democracy in the country.

This week (ending 21 January 2021), Tunisia made the front pages of global media with Tunisians clashing with security forces over the past days to complain about their living conditions. The riots, which are still underway, have been taking place in several regions, concentrating largely on disadvantaged areas and neighborhoods.  In Morocco, the detention of thousands of suspects awaiting trial is clear evidence of a regime that has no interest in upholding its human rights obligations. In Algeria, the situation is even worse as the regime continues to harass activists, opposition politicians and Hirak militants. Egypt is probably the worst human rights offender in the North Africa region. This week marks the anniversary of the demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which broke out on 25 January 2011, and which toppled another Arab tyrant Hosni Mubarak. This is a podcast by Arezki Daoud of MEA Risk LLC and Editor of The North Africa Journal.

Tunisia is a boiling cauldron. It is certain that the Covid-19 epidemic is having a drastic impact on the country on many fronts.  But the system put in place after the 2011 Jasmine Revolution, which was praised around the world as paving the way for the first democracy in the Arab world, has simply stalled. While the economy is facing unprecedented challenges, the very negative effects of such challenges could bring to power not only the Islamo-conservative movement that already attempted to govern in 2011 and failed, but also the party that ruled under dictator Ben Ali, both of which are a bad idea for Tunisia.