The Sandmonkey takes a step back from the Egyptian political scene and looks at the country’s real problems and some possible ways to start fixing them. Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou says Libya sh…

The fishing town of Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad, has been devastated by both Boko Haram and the Nigerian army. It is currently controlled by the Boko Haram faction, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA). The group is led by Abu Abdallah al-Barnawi, and is separate from, and presumably a rival to, Abubakar Shekau’s faction. Obi Anyadike, a reporter, interviewed eight former residents of Baga who had fled to Maiduguri.

Maged Atiya laments the Egyptian state’s devolution into idiocy. Sam Metz and Abdallah Brahimi explore the potential reasons behind the recent dismissal of Algerian spy chief Mohammed Mediene. Nada…

Larry Cohler-Esses, writing for Forward, discovers a dynamic and complex society during his recent trip to Iran. Omar Abdallah speaks with Syrian Alawites who no longer believe that the Assad regime…