Description
The author discusses the importance of North Africa in relation to the Islamic world and the Mediterranean region. They discuss how North Africa has acted as a cultural conduit, mediator, and broker between different parts of the world for centuries. They also discuss the importance of the Algerian War in relation to North Africa and the Mediterranean region.
Long regarded as the preserve of French scholars and Francophone audiences due to its significance to France's colonial empire, North Africa is increasingly recognized for its own singular importance as a crossover region. Situated where Islamic, Mediterranean, African, and European histories intersect, the Maghrib has long acted as a cultural conduit, mediator and broker. From the medieval era, when the oasis of Sijilmasa in the Moroccan wilderness funnelled caravan loads of gold into international networks, through the 16th century when two superpowers, the Ottomans and the Spanish Hapsburgs, battled for mastery of the Mediterranean along the North African frontier, and well into the 20th century which witnessed one of Africa's cruellest wars unfold in "French Algeria", the Maghrib has retained its uniqueness as a place where worlds meet.
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