Maghreb

Algerian author Boualem Sansal explores the perils of Islamic totalitarianism in his dystopian novel “2084,” which was published in France in 2015. For the authoritarian leaders Sansal portrays, religion is not the motivation for maintaining power, but rather a tool to that end.

As Amazigh people celebrate the beginning of their new year today, the Amazigh movement in Morocco is seeking to preserve the Amazigh cultural and historical heritage.

In a first for what some call “world music,” a new album featuring Moroccan Sufi music, reflecting a spiritual dimension of Islam, is being released this month.

Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Arab World has known endless cycles of death and destruction. It has also suffered sickening terror in the hands of Islamic extremists.

With a keen, intimate eye, focused on a Tunisia losing too many young people to radicalization, director Meryam Joobeur offers one family’s potent story.

The U.N. adopted an agreement on migration on December 10 that has become one of its most divisive and controversial documents. The compact outlines a framework for better governing migrants and their movements, but bears serious flaws and does little to assure that it will be put into action.

With a new musical experiment he calls Frigya, percussionist Imed Alibi explores his world from a fresh perspective.

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.

Meursault and Haroun, the respective narrators of Albert Camus’ 1942 novel, “The Stranger,” and Kamel Daoud’s 2012 novel, “The Meursault Investigation,” are united by their social and political alienation. While Meursault is able to achieve independence from his family and country, the central role of colonialism in Haroun’s life deprives him of this freedom.

Every November, a stunning array of musicians from across Africa and the Middle East convenes in Morocco’s capital city.