- Elite fracturing in Algeria may lead to a power vacuum after President Bouteflika's resignation on April 2 .
- Revisit "In Algeria hope for the best but prepare for the worst."
- Islamic State media is highlighting the presence of affiliated fighters in West Africa to counter the narrative of its losses in Iraq and Syria.
- An ISIS affiliate has been growing in the Sahel for four years.
- Libya is at a crossroads between a peace deal and military escalation.
- For more detail, revisit "The General's trap in Libya."
with Samuel Tadros via Mosaic Magazine
While the Middle East remains as messy as ever, writes Samuel Tadros, Washington cannot afford to ignore its problems even though it cannot solve them. It can, however, improve its approach to the region.
(The Associated Press) The United States said Sunday it has temporarily withdrawn some of its forces from Libya due to “security conditions on the ground,” as a Libyan military commander’s forces advanced toward the capital, Tripoli, clashing with rival militias.
Eastern Libyan forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Hifter launched airstrikes in southern Tripoli on Sunday, as the United Nations failed to achieve a truce. The UN mission in Libya on Sunday called on all armed parties to pause the fighting for two hours to allow for the evacuation of civilians and the wounded. Hifter's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) deployed in western areas of Libya last week as part of an operation to “purge” Tripoli from terrorist groups. The conflict escalated over the weekend, with at least 21 people reported killed and 27 others injured in clashes between LNA forces and armed groups allied with the internationally recognized government in Tripoli. Meanwhile, the United States said it had removed a small group of US troops from the country on Sunday as the fighting escalated. Read More
Libya has been in a constant state of civil war for five years, and the unique patterns of the Libyan civil war must not be forgotten as we parse its latest developments. The recent march on Tripoli by Khalifa Hifter's forces is more about media optics and projecting power, than about precipitating a blood bath for control of the capital.
(Deutsche Welle) Militias in Libya's west say they are determined to stop a bid by military strongman Khalifa Haftar to seize the capital. The escalation of tensions has raised prospects of renewed civil war in the country.
Libya’s internationally recognized government declared on Wednesday a military alert in the capital Tripoli after eastern military commander Khalifa Hifter ordered his forces to move west. Hifter's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) deployed in western areas of the country “to purge the remaining terrorist groups located in their last hideouts,” a spokesman said. Clashes erupted south of Tripoli between LNA forces and armed groups belonging to the Tripoli-based government. Read More
Danielle Pletka | House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism
The United States can do a lot of good in the Middle East. It’s high time we think about both dealing with challenges and creating opportunities.
by Afshin Molavi via The Caravan The year 1993 is not normally seen as a geopolitically defining year. As Bill Clinton took the oath of office in Washington, the big geopolitical events of the past few years -- the fall of the Soviet Union, the first Gulf War, the rise of newly independent Eastern European states - continued to reverberate but the world, it seemed, had entered the post-Cold War peace dividend era and the American unipolar moment. Across Middle East capitals, there was no doubt who the great power was in the world. The United States had no rival.