The new North Africa and Sahel (NAS) program at the Middle East Institute aims to analyze and bring attention to this region’s challenges and opportunities. Placing the North Africa and Sahel region at the center of its analytical framework, NAS looks at the internal dynamics of this increasingly geopolitically important region, as well as its relationship to and influence on the Middle East, Mediterranean, Europe, Africa, and the role of global powers such as the US, Russia, and China. The program’s research approach seeks to identify common themes across the region and provide bespoke examination of each state’s nuances. The program also intends to showcase a rising generation of regional voices to highlight local priorities and build bridges between the North Africa and Sahel region and the US.
The Middle East Institute is pleased to host a launch event for the North Africa and Sahel Program on November 10, 2021, featuring keynote remarks from Deputy Assistant Secretary for North Africa of the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Karen Sasahara. Following the keynote address, Intissar Fakir, the founding director of MEI’s North Africa and Sahel Program will moderate a panel discussion featuring Riccardo Fabiani from the International Crisis Group, and Niagale Bagayko from the African Security Sector Network. The event will feature a wide-ranging discussion of underlying dynamics in the North Africa and Sahel region, as well as cross cutting themes and regional outlook.
Keynote
Karen Sasahara
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for North Africa, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Panel
Niagalé Bagayoko
Chair, African Security Sector Network
Riccardo Fabiani
Head, North Africa division, Crisis Group
Intissar Fakir, moderator
Senior fellow and director, North Africa and Sahel program, MEI
Photo by vale_t via iStock Photos