When I first came to Washington in the 1990s, people who worked on North Africa were few and far between. It was considered a backwater; no one ever came to Washington to solve the Western Sahara problem.
Instead, U.S. foreign-policy strivers made their way to the Beltway to ensure the security of the Persian Gulf’s shipping lanes, to write cheesy lines about the appropriateness of Wahhabism’s austere creed arising from such a harsh landscape, and to chase the whitest of white whales—peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It is a narrow view of the region that continues today, which is unfortunate because North Africa is far more important to U.S. interests than the Middle East obsessions—old and new—of the policy community.
(…)
North Africa is far more important to U.S. interests than the Middle East obsessions—old and new—of the Washington policy community, @stevenacook writes. https://t.co/6pgreWa8Db
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) July 19, 2019
Full text – original: Europe’s Future Will Be Decided in North Africa – Foreign Policy