Countering Chinese and Russian Influence in North Africa

As great power competition with Beijing and Moscow continues to affect the Middle East, the United States faces unique challenges and opportunities in the quest to counter their influence in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. To shed light on these developments, The Washington Institute is pleased to announce a virtual Policy Forum with U.S. Ambassador Joey Hood, who will discuss where and how America should compete based on his experience in Tunisia. His remarks will be followed by a panel discussion of China and Russia’s diplomatic, economic, security, and cultural influence across the region, conducted by the coauthors of the recent Institute study “North Africa in an Era of Great Power Competition” and moderated by Soref Fellow Sabina Henneberg.

Joey Hood was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia in December 2022. His previous posts include service as acting assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, deputy chief of mission in Iraq and Kuwait, consul-general in Saudi Arabia, and acting director in the Office of Iranian Affairs.

Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute’s Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East, focusing on Russian policy toward regional states.

Ben Fishman is the Levy Senior Fellow in the Institute’s Rubin Program on Arab Politics and former director for North Africa on the National Security Council.

Grant Rumley is the Meisel-Goldberger Senior Fellow at the Institute, director of its Glazer Foundation Program, and a former Middle East policy advisor at the Pentagon.

The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.