Riccardo Fabiani Project Director, North Africa Please submit all media inquiries to rfabiani@crisisgroup.org or call +32 (0) 2 536 00 71 Crisis Group Role As North Africa Project Director, Riccardo oversees Crisis Group’s work on Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. Professional Background Riccardo has more than ten years of professional experience as a political analyst and economist on North Africa, having worked for Eurasia Group, Energy Aspects and other consultancies. He has published articles for the Carnegie Endowment’s Sada Journal, Jadaliyya, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Financial Times. Areas of Expertise Political economy of North Africa Algeria and Libya's energy politics Economic development and conflict Islamist politics in Algeria and Tunisia Languages English Italian French Portuguese Arabic (professional proficiency) Publications "Transnational Organized Crime and Political Actors in the Maghreb and Sahel", Mediterranean Dialogue Series 17, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, January 2019 "Tunisia and the International Community since 2011: Rentierism, Patronage and Moral Hazard", Jadaliyya, January 2018 In The News 23 Dec 2021 Israel's alliance with Morocco could mean that in the long-term Rabat becomes militarily superior to Algiers and dominant in the region. TRT World Riccardo Fabiani Project Director, North Africa 9 Dec 2021 Israel's alliance with Morocco could mean that in the long-term Rabat becomes militarily superior to Algiers and dominant in the region. The New Arab Riccardo Fabiani Project Director, North Africa 6 Nov 2021 Morocco has shown a more hardnosed approach to Western Sahara and in its relations with its neighbours, including Spain. AFP Riccardo Fabiani Project Director, North Africa 26 Jun 2021 Cairo has been trying to mobilize support for its position on the GERD with the Nile Basin countries for years [...] to exert as much diplomatic pressure as possible on Ethiopia to force it to make concessions [on negotiations]. Al Monitor Riccardo Fabiani Project Director, North Africa 14 Jun 2021 The economic trend [in Algeria] is extremely negative, there is a liquidity crisis at banks and local companies. In construction, the biggest sector after oil, there has been a record number of bankruptcies. The country could be heading towards economic disaster with a heavy social cost. Financial Times Riccardo Fabiani Project Director, North Africa 11 Dec 2020 [The US recognition of Rabat’s claim to Western Sahara] will make Sahrawi youths more angry, mobilised and committed to resolving the conflict through force. Financial Times Riccardo Fabiani Project Director, North Africa Latest Updates Op-Ed / Middle East & North Africa 5 November 2021 Getting Diplomacy Back on Track in Western Sahara Originally published in World Politics Review Podcast / Europe & Central Asia 27 October 2021 Europe’s Balancing Act in Western Sahara Hugh Pope is joined by North Africa experts Intissar Fakir and Riccardo Fabiani to ask whether Morocco holds a winning hand in its conflict with the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara as Europe looks on timidly, wary of direct challenges to the regional power. Q&A / Middle East & North Africa 28 July 2021 Tunisia’s Leap into the Unknown On 25 July, Tunisia’s President Kaïs Saïed invoked the constitution to seize emergency powers after months of crisis. In this Q&A, Crisis Group expert Riccardo Fabiani says compromise between Saïed and his parliamentary opponents remains possible, but so does grave violence. Also available in Français