"Escalating Rivalry and Regional Security in the Maghreb" with Amine Ayoub

Description

In this week’s Middle East Forum podcast, Lauri Regan is joined by Amine Ayoub, a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum, founder of Maghreb Sentinel, and a North Africa risk and intelligence consultant specializing in energy security and geopolitics.

Ayoub examines the widening strategic divide in the Maghreb, focusing on the long-running rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, the collapse of regional diplomatic mechanisms, and the growing importance of North Africa in European energy security. He explains how competing gas pipeline projects, military modernization, and the unresolved Western Sahara dispute are reshaping the region’s security architecture.

The conversation also explores how Iran’s weakening regional position could affect Algeria’s strategic posture, the role of the Polisario Front and its external links, Morocco’s expanding defense cooperation with Israel, and the broader contest for influence across Libya and the Sahel involving Russia, China, and Turkey. Ayoub also addresses why North Africa’s internal fault lines increasingly matter far beyond the region, from Mediterranean security to transatlantic policy planning.

Subscribe for more conversations with leading analysts on the Middle East and beyond.