Examines the impact of the changing geopolitical environment on a range of governance issues in North Africa Discusses cases from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Mauritania, using field work carried out throughout the region Situates the North Africa region within several global contexts such as the West, Africa, and the Middle East Offers both in-depth country case studies as well as cross-cutting thematic chapters including a focus on gender issues Tackles major global challenges including climate change, socioeconomic inequality and global power competition (Russia and China) Combines an academic and policy approach to the region to speak to a variety of audiences North Africa was once on the geopolitical periphery of Middle East dynamics, but it has increasingly come to shape regional trends. In addition to internal political and economic transformations that were accelerated by the protests of 2011 and that have upended or reshaped the lives of millions of the region's inhabitants, the region is also contending with a range of external challenges. These include the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic transformation, changing market dynamics including energy markets, the growing presence of new regional actors like Russia and China, and the changing role of traditional allies such as the European Union, Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and the United States. These dynamics are compounded by other natural and man-made climate changes and demographic changes that worsen them. This volume shows why North Africa, sometimes considered a backwater within a broader Middle East context, actually is the leading edge of change for the region and deserving of far more attention from the international community. North African countries are facing a dizzying array of challenges related to domestic and global trends--political transformation either recent or underway, economic stagnation now worsened by the pandemic, social challenges associated with a frustrated young population--are giving the region more geopolitical relevance with implications for the broader Middle East, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.