NORTH AFRICA: BETWEEN STAGNATION AND TURBULENCE

Georg Lennkh in conversation with Canan Atilgan

NORTH AFRICA: BETWEEN STAGNATION AND TURBULENCE

North Africa is characterised by fragile statehood, political uncertainty and social and economic problems. The Arab Spring a decade ago is generally regarded as a failure, while the call for social, economic and political change continues. The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have hit countries that were already economically and socially fragile particularly hard, acting as an accelerant for the many challenges. At the same time, conflicts such as in Western Sahara or Libya and interstate disputes are characterising the geopolitical dynamics.

The entire region is facing unprecedented geopolitisation, in which regional and global rivalries are being fought out and spheres of influence are being staked out. This geopolitical dynamic has consequences for Europe's creative power in its immediate neighbourhood. How can Europe find long-term and sustainable ways to remain relevant in its own neighbourhood and help shape the future?

Canan Atilgan has headed the Middle East and North Africa Department in the European and International Cooperation Division of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin since May 2022. Prior to this, she was Director of the Regional Programme Political Dialogue Southern Mediterranean based in Tunis for four years and headed the Regional Programme South Caucasus in Tbilisi from 2011 to 2015. Her positions at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation also included office management in Thailand, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan. Between 2005 and 2007, she was coordinator for European policy at the foundation's headquarters in Berlin. She holds a doctorate in political science, specialising in international relations.

 Georg Lennkh, former Austrian Special Envoy for Africa, Member of the Board of the Kreisky Forum