LINK TO VIDEO: IISS-US Book Launch
Ben Fishman, Editor, North Africa in Transition
Haim Malka, Contributing Author, North Africa in Transition; Middle East Program Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, CSIS
John Desrocher, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Egypt and Maghreb Affairs
Chair: Mark Fitzpatrick, Executive Director, IISS-US
IISS-US, Washington DC
Wednesday 20 January 2016, 2pm-3pm EST

The 2011 Arab uprisings began in North Africa and toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Libya, but the forces that wreaked this profound change also touched their fellow Maghreb states of Algeria and Morocco. North Africa in Transition, the latest IISS Adelphi book, examines how the politics, security and economies – which were largely stable for decades prior to 2011 – have changed in the four states. It asks why the popular revolutions in Tunisia and Libya did not spread to Algeria and Morocco; how the revolutionary states have fared since 2011; why Libya descended into a deadly civil war while the others did not; and whether the sitting governments in Algeria and Morocco have applied sustainable strategies to address the new political climate.

This discussion and Q&A session about North Africa and its importance to Western interests, took place at the IISS-US office and was chaired by Executive Director Mark Fitzpatrick.

Ben Fishman served for four years on the US National Security Council, including as Director for North Africa and Jordan from 2012 to 2013.

Haim Malka is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Middle East Program at CSIS, where he oversees the program’s work on the Maghreb.

John Desrocher is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Egypt and Maghreb Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State.