Dalia Ghanem

Dalia Ghanem is a resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where her work examines political and extremist violence, radicalization, Islamism, and jihadism with an emphasis on Algeria. She also focuses on the participation of women in jihadist groups. Ghanem has been a guest speaker on these issues in various conferences and a regular commentator in different Arab and international print and audio-visual media.

Ghanem was previously an El-Erian fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center. Prior to joining Carnegie in 2013, she was a teaching associate at Williams College in Massachusetts and she also served as a research assistant at the Center for Political Analysis and Regulation at the University of Versailles.

Ghanem is the author of numerous publications, including most recently: “Obstacles to ISIS Expansion in Algeria” (Cipher Brief, September 2016); “Algeria on the Verge: What Seventeen Years of Bouteflika Have Achieved” (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 2016); “Why Is AQIM Still a Regional Threat?” (New Arab, March 2016); “The Female Face of Jihadism” (EuroMeSCo Joint Policy, February 2016); “Running Low: Algeria’s Fiscal Challenges and Implications for Stability” (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 2016); “Women in the Men’s House: The Road to Equality in the Algerian Military” (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 2015); and “Despite Shakeups, Algeria’s Security Apparatus Stronger Than Ever” (World Politics Review, September, 2015).

The Latest from Dalia Ghanem

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Algeria rings in the old: Civil society under assault

The Algerian authorities are intensifying repression against the last voices of dissent, hoping to put an end to the Hirak once and for all. Human rights in Algeria are under serious threat; the pattern toward a more authoritarian, less competitive regime is clear.

Algeria: War against women

Femicide and other gender-based violence are turning into a real public-health crisis in Algeria. Recent killings have sparked outrage and many Algerians have expressed their anger on social media over this dangerous trend of violence against women, with the hashtag #WeLostOneOfUs trending on Twitter. In Algiers, Béjaïa, Constantine, and Oran, hundreds of women defied pandemic lockdown restrictions to protest and voice their anger over the increase in femicides in the country and the state’s inertia.

Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images

The last emir?: AQIM’s decline in the Sahel

Five months after the elimination of Abdel Malek Droukdel, aka Abu Musab Abdel Wadud, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), by the French army in the Malian city of Talhandak, AQIM appointed a new emir on Nov. 21. His name is Yazid Mebarek, aka Abu Ubayda Yusef al-Annabi, a 51-year-old Algerian and a jihad veteran.

Photo by Billal Bensalem/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Algeria: Toward an economic collapse?

Even as a growing number of Arab and African states look to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance to help counter the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Algeria has made it clear it will not follow suit. Despite the fiscal challenges, economic crisis, social unrest, and public health emergency, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has insisted that Algeria will not seek a loan to ease the country’s socio-economic woes.

Sidi Ahmad al-Tijani Mosque in Fes el Bali

Specter of jihadism continues to haunt Maghreb

The jihadist threat is not new to the Maghreb. However, the fallout of the 2011 Arab uprisings has fundamentally altered the political and security environment of North African countries. While states such as Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia witnessed an increase in deaths from jihadist attacks, others like Algeria and Morocco experienced a reduced impact.