Jean R. AbiNader May 14, 2019 Two recent reports highlight the challenges of developing an equitable and high performing economy in North Africa. While Morocco and Tunisia have demonstrated a degree of political will in announcing goals for more equitable societies, there is opposition from traditional elites, and the structures of the economies themselves are obstacles to opening up opportunities for economic growth. For example, patterns of national investment are
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Jean R. AbiNader May 8, 2019 The Arab Youth Survey, now in its 11th year, measures attitudes among Arab youth in 10 categories: religion, role of government, education, foreign relations, conflicts, nations perceived as models, drug use, mental health, e-commerce, and media consumption. In 2019, the survey, conducted this past January, involved face-to-face interviews with 3,300 young people, ages 18-24 in 15 countries. In Morocco, 200 young men and women, equally
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Robert M. Holley May 2, 2019 The Security Council has again renewed the peacekeeping mandate for Western Sahara, MINURSO, for another six months. It did so without the votes of Russia and South Africa, both of who abstained. As my colleague Ambassador Ed Gabriel said in an article last week in these pages, the resolution could have been written beforehand by most any frequent observer of events in the region.
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Ambassador Edward M. Gabriel (ret.) May 1, 2019 In less than a year, America has lost two of its most honored foreign policy leaders: Senator McCain who passed away in August of 2018, and former Senator Richard Lugar who passed away this week at age 87. Few people are as respected for their bipartisan efforts as these men were. Purdue University President and former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, an
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Ambassador Edward M. Gabriel (ret.) April 30, 2019 In April 1999, Abdelaziz Bouteflika won the Algerian presidential elections and would remain head of state for the next two decades. It was recently announced that he would step down from the office this month, on the 20th anniversary of his first election. President Bouteflika’s initial rise was viewed hopefully in Morocco, where it was rumored that he and King Hassan II were
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