How a Biden win could transform US policy in the Middle East and North Africa
Victory for Joe Biden is likely to bring three big policy shifts in the region, opening new possibilities and challenges for Europeans
Experts & Staff
Tarek Megerisi
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Libyan affairs; politics, governance and development in the Arab world
Languages
English, Arabic
Biography
Tarek Megerisi is a senior policy fellow with the North Africa and Middle East programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He is a political analyst and researcher who specialises in Libyan affairs and more generally politics, governance and development in the Arab world.
Megerisi started his career in Tripoli, Libya with the Sadeq Institute and various INGOs providing diverse research and democratisation assistance to Libya’s post-revolutionary authorities between 2012-2014.
Megerisi returned to London in 2014 and has since been working freelance as an analyst and researcher, advising on Libya policy to a range of international missions to Libya, commentating on Libyan developments for publications like Foreign Policy, and co-authoring policy briefs or assisting with the Libya programming of a variety of think-tanks. He has also authored commissioned papers for organisations such as WPF and the Legatum Institute and contributed to wider publications for journals like ISPI. In 2017 he was part of the UN OHCHR team to update the Pinheiro Principles on Home, Land & Property Rights for the Middle East.
How new street protests can help diplomacy in Libya succeed
Rival camps in Libya will likely sabotage political processes that could undermine them. The international community can head this off by harnessing protesters’ justified anger.
Italy’s chance in Libya
The tide of Libya’s war is turning against renegade general Khalifa Haftar. Italy should seize this opportunity to lead European countries to a harmonised Libya policy.
Russia’s Syria, Turkey’s Libya?
The attempt of a peace process in Libya is facing several substantial hindrances, where a variety of actors keep on inducing significant upheavals in its…
Deep sea rivals: Europe, Turkey, and new eastern Mediterranean conflict lines
The eastern Mediterranean is becoming ever more perilous as geopolitical fault lines steadily enmesh the region. These rifts emerge from the Cyprus ‘frozen conflict’, competition for valuable gas fields, and the increasingly entangled wars in Libya and Syria.
It’s Turkey’s Libya now
European countries should try to revive the political approach to resolving the Libya conflict, particularly given that Turkey may want to do so from its current position of strength
The EU’s ‘Irini’ Libya mission: Europe’s Operation Cassandra
Europe’s latest move seems likely to marginalise it and damage its credibility as an honest broker
Why the ‘ignored war’ in Libya will come to haunt a blinkered west
Europe seems unconcerned by the chaos smouldering on its doorstep, as Libya’s five-year-old conflict becomes world’s main theatre of drone combat
Infected: The impact of the coronavirus on the Middle East and north Africa
The coronavirus has hit the Middle East and north Africa at a time when the region is already burdened with multiple problems, including a series…
Make-believe in the Med: Europe’s new Libya mission
Without aerial power, the ‘new Operation Sophia’ will simply upset Turkey and encourage the UAE and Haftar to go for total victory in Tripoli
Publications
Back from the brink: A better way for Europe to support Tunisia’s democratic transition
The EU and its member states can assist Tunisian leaders by providing new investment – and thereby reboot the democratic transition
Spoiler alert: How Europe can save diplomacy in Libya
Europeans should provide stabilisation, technical, and diplomatic support to strengthen Libya’s governance and accountability mechanisms to ensure a new government can successfully hold elections in 2021
Libya’s global civil war
Introduction The Libyan National Army’s (LNA) recent advance on Tripoli, under the leadership of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, has pushed Libya into what could become…
Order from chaos: Stabilising Libya the local way
The tragedy of Libya in well known in outline but poorly known in detail – to many in Europe, that is. But Europe has a role in the country’s stabilisation.
Articles
Infinity war: Libya’s reoccurring conflict
Libya is trapped in a degenerative cycle of war. Yet Europeans could use the current stalemate in the country to restart an electoral process that would end the cycle.
Never let a good crisis go to waste: How Europe can respond to Libya’s riots
European policymakers should look on current protests in Libya as a rare opportunity to push for change in what has long been a stagnant political environment
The man from Misrata: Why Libya has two prime ministers (again)
If Libya is to avoid the same political dynamics that sparked its long-running civil war, European states that are invested in Libyan diplomacy will need to focus on establishing a new electoral road map
Unsettled: The impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on the Middle East and North Africa
Heightened conflict in Ukraine could have serious consequences for European interests in the Middle East and North Africa. It could further disrupt energy supplies, exacerbate food insecurity, and help states in the region gain leverage over the US and Europe.
Tunisia coup: What Europeans can do to save North Africa’s only democracy
Europeans cannot stand apart from the chaos in Tunisia – indeed, active European involvement now can help restore stability to the country
The great game: A geopolitical Euros
If policymakers watch closely enough, football might just provide the perspective and insights they need to advance a geopolitical Europe
Cooling-off: How Europe can help stabilise the Middle East
As countries across the Middle East pause to take stock of recent conflicts, Europeans need to do more to support dialogue
Plot twist: How Europe should deal with Libya’s new government
Europe should support the UN process in Libya by working to ensure that the country’s upstart new government focuses on preparing for and holding the general election in December
How a Biden win could transform US policy in the Middle East and North Africa
Victory for Joe Biden is likely to bring three big policy shifts in the region, opening new possibilities and challenges for Europeans
How new street protests can help diplomacy in Libya succeed
Rival camps in Libya will likely sabotage political processes that could undermine them. The international community can head this off by harnessing protesters’ justified anger.
Specials
Deep sea rivals: Europe, Turkey, and new eastern Mediterranean conflict lines
The eastern Mediterranean is becoming ever more perilous as geopolitical fault lines steadily enmesh the region. These rifts emerge from the Cyprus ‘frozen conflict’, competition for valuable gas fields, and the increasingly entangled wars in Libya and Syria.
Mapping European leverage in the MENA region
Turmoil in the Middle East and north Africa directly affects Europeans. Yet their influence in the region has never been weaker. This project maps Europe’s role across the Middle East and north Africa, making the case that Europeans can do more to leverage their influence in pursuit of core interests
Podcasts
Russia’s Syria, Turkey’s Libya?
The attempt of a peace process in Libya is facing several substantial hindrances, where a variety of actors keep on inducing significant upheavals in its…
The Berlin Libya Conference: a moment to shine for European foreign policy?
Anthony Dworkin stands in for our usual host, Mark Leonard, to de-brief the Berlin Conference on Libya. Together with the ECFR’s experts Asli Aydıntaşbaş, Tarek…
Quelle issue pour la situation en Libye ?
Podcast de notre BCM du 5 mai « Quelle issue pour la situation en Libye ? » en présence de Tarek Megerisi, chercheur…
Is Libya falling apart again?
Mark Leonard speaks with Julien Barnes-Dacey and Tarek Megerisi about the Libyan conflict, the impact of the Paris summit, and Europe’s fight over migration policies…
In the media
The outcome leaves Dbeibah stronger for now, but only underlines the need for a still absent political process
Tarek Megerisi comments on the political implications of the recent clashes
Both have long since stopped serving the country’s interests, but only their own
From Tarek Megerisi’s point of view, both Dbaiba and Bashagha have failed to gain legitimacy
They can weaken a major Russian foreign policy interest, stabilize a key energy route between North Africa and Europe, and transform a source of instability into a valuable partner
Tarek Megerisi is quoted on the potential for European engagement with Libya
Haftar’s official classification as a war criminal will make his political ambitions more difficult
Tarek Megerisi’s comment on the consequences of the ruling of the US Federal Court of Eastern Virginia, which has found General Khalifa Haftar guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity
He doesn’t have the support or the governance nouse to build a new political system, and when the economy collapses, you won’t have a political system that can salvage it
Tarek Megerisi comments on the political challenges faced by Tunisia’s President Kais Saied