Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Since the eruption of the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia, North Africa has been in transition.

In Libya, after an eight-month civil war, rebels supported by NATO air power brought Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule to an end. Today, the promise of a free and democratic Libya remains unfulfilled as the transitional government fights various militias and terrorist groups.

Since the eruption of the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia, North Africa has been in transition.

In Libya, after an eight-month civil war, rebels supported by NATO air power brought Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule to an end. Today, the promise of a free and democratic Libya remains unfulfilled as the transitional government fights various militias and terrorist groups. In September 2012, attackers affiliated with al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. mission in Benghazi, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, raising fears about the group's power and reach in the country.

Islamist violence has also rocked Algeria, where in January 2013, an offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) took over 800 hostages. Tunisia, once noted for its peaceful “Jasmine Revolution” recently also has experienced bloodshed as secularists and Islamists struggle for control of the government.

FDD scholars John Hannah, Khairi Abaza, Reuel Marc Gerecht, and Jonathan Schanzer monitor the political transformations in North Africa. Thomas Joscelyn, Bill Roggio, and Daveed Gartenstein-Ross write extensively on the rising terror threats in the region, while Dawit Giorgis looks at the expansion of Islamism in the continent.