Borderlands

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Borderlands

“A dynasty is stronger at its centre than it is at its border regions,” wrote the 14th-century Maghrebi scholar and statesman Ibn Khaldun. Today, his observation continues to inform our understanding of the challenges facing states and societies in the Maghreb.

Sharing a history of trans-Saharan trading, a patchwork of ethnicities, and modern borders that define post-colonial states, the borderlands between Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya are at the nexus of the national and transnational.

Well before the first ripples of upheaval in Tunisia scattered across the region in 2011, smuggling, extremism, and conflict challenged the perception of these borders as fixed and inviolable. The uprisings that subsequently engulfed the region amplified these powerful transnational currents.

What follows is the story of borderlands, the often overlooked stage in this regional drama.