All Policy Analysis by Vish Sakthivel

The compiled series provides a timely country-by-country guidebook for engaging non-Islamist, pluralistically inclined actors in North Africa, the Gulf, and the Levant.

By encouraging Algiers to develop a more comprehensive approach to the persistent extremist threat in the south and east, Washington can also help manage the crises in Libya and Mali.

Given the PJD's popularity, the king's decision is surprising and seemingly risky, but the Islamist party may choose to accept the compromise and move forward.

Ahead of parliamentary elections in May, Algeria’s fractious Islamist parties have announced unlikely new sets of electoral blocs. The confusing new coalitions are not just the latest iteration of the alphabet soup of Algeria’s Islamists. They also reflect the enduring limitations of Islamist party politics, which present an incomplete picture

Sufism has been repeatedly invoked in U.S. foreign policy circles as a possible ideological counterbalance to extremist ideologies in the Middle East and greater "Islamic world." On a superficial level, for those who view politics as a "battle of ideas," the imagery of pacifist whirling dervishes provides a compelling contrast

In this podcast episode from World Politics Review, Vish Sakthivel joins Peter Dörrie to talk about the outlook for Algeria when the Bouteflika era comes to an end.

The three countries that comprise the Maghreb region -- Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia -- are bound by important cultural, linguistic, and economic ties, and by a shared history of French occupation. Even after Africa's official decolonization, the Maghreb has remained a close and intense sphere of European, and especially French, influence

This past Sunday, Morocco made a surprise move by sending a delegation to the African Union (AU) -- the transnational union charged with encouraging African nations' solidarity and the politico-economic integration of the full continent. Leaving the organization over 30 years ago, it has been the only nonmember nation in

Morocco needs to balance its desire to hold onto an economically and politically important region with the realities of EU human rights regulations and other international norms.

Although Algerians are lukewarm to the prospect of a managed succession, they are even less willing to believe that true multiparty democracy could flourish in the current environment.

This second chapter in the essay series Beyond Islamists and Autocrats examines the increasingly influential role played by civil society organizations in Morocco's push for rights reforms.

Even as Rabat sends delegations abroad to garner support for its security programs, the question remains: Why is Morocco one of the largest sources of IS fighters in the Arab world?

Across the Middle East, a critical question for regimes and peoples alike is "Are Islamists rising or fading?" Egypt under President al-Sisi is one story; Iraq and Syria facing the ISIS challenge is another. In Morocco, the banned but highly influential Islamist opposition group al-Adl wal-Ihsan (Justice and Benevolence) is

By criticizing Morocco's various nonviolent Islamist factions online, ISIS/IS members are attempting to plant the seeds of emboldened violent opposition in the kingdom.

A senior State Department advisor and two Washington Institute scholars discuss what lessons can -- and cannot -- be drawn from the Islamist political experience in Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, and other countries.

Secretary Kerry's visit comes amid Morocco's efforts to expand its regional influence and an upcoming vote in Algeria.

North African Shiites are growing in number, forming organizations, and mobilizing around Syria and other causes, refuting the popular belief that Morocco is removed from the dynamics of the Gulf and Levant.

Although Mali could become a satellite of another North African power, Morocco's involvement is the best chance to uproot extremism there, from the inside out.