The main battle line of the Libyan civil war—between the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by the self-proclaimed Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and forces loyal to the United Nations–recognized Government of National Accord (GNA)—has shifted east, from the outskirts of Tripoli to the Mediterranean city... MORE

Ambiguity can be a useful political tactic, securing for a state the advantage of flexibility while leaving its adversaries guessing; but sometimes it simply camouflages confusion. Russia seeks to present its policy in the Middle East as usefully ambiguous. But in fact, it is at... MORE

The Libyan Conflict and the Moroccan-Algerian Arms Race Brian M. Perkins Algeria and Morocco have long been in competition for diplomatic and military supremacy in the Maghreb and have intermittently faced off in the conflict over Western Sahara. Algeria has been the region’s preeminent military... MORE

Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jammah (ASWJ) was incorporated into Islamic State Central Africa Province (IS-CAP) in 2019 and includes militants from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. The group has been responsible for attacks that have killed hundreds and displaced thousands from their homes since 2017 (CTGN Africa,... MORE

Since Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS)’s killing of four U.S. special forces members in October 2017 in northwestern Niger, the group has increasingly become defined by France and allied Sahelian governments as the “priority” regional threat for counter-terrorism operations (Diplomatie.gouv.fr, January 13). ISGS peaked... MORE

Introduction Analyzing Aguila Saleh Issa al-Obeidi’s life and career, the peculiarity of his profile compared to that of the many current protagonists of Libyan politics is striking. He is by no means a classic militant leader. He has 50 years of experience in legal issues,... MORE

In the last few weeks, Russia has been too busy with the domestic explosion of COVID-19 cases to properly attend to foreign policy matters; but the lack of interest in Moscow to the session of the Chinese National People’s Congress, which opened in Beijing last... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been seeking to return to Libya since 2003, when United Nations sanctions on the country were dropped after Muammar Qaddafi made amends to the West, denounced terrorism, abandoned plans to produce weapons of mass destruction and allocated $2.7 billon to... MORE

Introduction Through 2019 into early 2020, the G5 Sahel Group (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger) has suffered painful losses caused by the activities of regional terrorist organizations. In January, the United Nations' envoy for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, told the Security Council that... MORE

A glance at the Turkish Armed Forces’ recent combat record demonstrates that Turkey’s defense policy now extends well beyond its borders. Drones loitering in the Syrian airspace, navy frigates along the Libyan coast, Turkish military advisors in Tripoli alongside Government of National Accord (GNA) formations,... MORE