Issandr El Amrani oversees Crisis Group's North Africa Project. Prior to joining Crisis Group, he was a writer and consultant on Middle Eastern affairs based in Cairo. His reporting and commentary on the region has appeared in The Economist, London Review of Books, Financial Times, The National, The Guardian, Time and other publications. He has also advised leading investment firms and NGOs on the region.

He is the founder of The Arabist, one of the longest-running and most-read blogs on Arab politics culture, and the co-founder of Cairo magazine. He is also a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Issandr, who is Moroccan-American, has lived in the region since 2000, mostly in Cairo, and currently resides in Rabat.

• Islamism & Islamist movements in North Africa
• Domestic politics of North Africa
• Geopolitics of the Arab Spring & its aftermath
• Egyptian domestic politics & foreign policy
• Egypt & the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• US & EU policies towards the Arab world

• Independent consultant and journalist 2009-2013
• North Africa analyst, International Crisis Group, 2007-2009
• Independent journalist, 2000-2007
• Co-founder and editor, Cairo
• Editor, Cairo Times

• English 
• French
• Arabic