Development Morocco is now the home of Africa’s first high-speed rail line. The state of the art “Al Boraq” Train now links Tangier and Casablanca in just over two hours.

Politics This year, Yemenis celebrated the 51st anniversary of South Yemen’s independence from British colonial rule. But now decades later Yemen is facing a new colonization—this time by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. While five decades of independence have given way to something even worse than British occupation, the past four years suggest that this new colonialism will not last long.

Economy The changing climate portends more extreme weather events that are likely to hurt global food supplies and raise prices. While the rich countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council are currently food secure due to their strong buying power, they are too vulnerable to supply fluctuations because of near total food import dependency, growing population rates, and declining freshwater and rainfall to be able to boost domestic food production.