Abstract
The paper discusses how, over the past several decades, two neighboring Northern African states, Algeria and Morocco, have taken different paths in their views and treatment of families and genders. The paper examines how, as a result of the specific differences in the treatment of gender, the male and female genders have assumed different roles in each of these countries. In this paper, several books and films are discussed and analyzed in order to better describe the topic of gender roles in Morocco and Algeria.

Outline:
Introduction
Portrayal of the Gender Roles in Books
Common Threads of Gender Roles
Conclusion
Works Cited

From the Paper
"There are deeper cultural clashes that are depicted in "Year of the Elephant", which is a collection of stories written and compiled by Leila Abouzeid. The "title story", if you will, shares the history of a woman who has been divorced and left with nothing to her name, essentially leaving her trapped within the confines of her village. She goes through a period of depression and recounts her life story, her involvement in the independence movement, her marriage to a young man who becomes seduced by materialism. Through all of these trials, she takes on the viewpoint that the colonization that held Morocco in a powerless position is not over, that it has simply been replaced by ambitious and greedy Moroccans wielding power over the disenfranchised--the poor and women. By presenting such a complex story, Abouzeid takes on several cultural issues- secular versus sacred, materialistic versus personal, the powerful overtaking the weak, and of course the classic struggle for the genders to attain equality and more specifically for women to achieve equal rights in a society that basically refuses to give them those rights."

Tags:Islam, terrorism, Scheherazde, Goes, West, Year, Elephant, Children, New, World, French

Abstract
This paper argues in support of John Isbister's premise in his book "Promises not Kept" that colonialism has destructive effects on colonized countries. Next, using several sources, the author analyzes the complex and unique behavior of France toward its former colony Algeria as a representative case of post-colonial relations. This paper concludes that the only way to ensure more egalitarian post-colonial relations is for the former imperialist power to consider to what extent it is responsible for its former colony's present underdevelopment. However, the concept of responsibility should be used carefully to avoid neo-colonialism as what happened in the case of the Franco-Algerian relationship. The bibliography is listed as footnotes.

Table of Contents:
After De-Colonization: Which Role for France on the Algerian Economy?
Balance of Algerian Economy After the Decolonization, and Effects of French Colonization
The Basis of the French Economic Policy in Algeria: The Evian Accords (1962)
Which Justifications for the Post-Colonial French Influence on Algeria Economy ?
Official Justifications
Which Real Motivations?
The Specifities of the French Neocolonialism in Algeria
Algeria within the Francafrique
Which are the Specificities of this Cooperation Exemplaire ?
What is the Nature of these Relations, and their Evolution?
Critical Balance of the French Policy in Algeria
Why is the French Post Colonial Policy in Algeria a Failure?
What Should be the Future French Policy with Algeria ?
Conclusion
What are the Franco-Algerian Case's Teachings?

From the Paper
"The most common argument defended by French politicians to justify the economic presence of France in Algeria is the existence of historical, cultural, and even sentimental links. France, as a historic friend and partner, should keep providing advices and aid to its long-term partner. This argument is for me, totally naive and unrealistic. Firstly, because given the huge cost of French presence in Algeria (financial, logistic, and institutional), the benefits for France are certainly much more economically profitable than an alleged sentimental attachment. "

Tags:partnership, evian accords, independence market aid

Abstract
This paper discusses discrimination against women in Morocco. It discusses the attempts to decrease discrimination and focuses on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which was implemented by the United Nations in 1979. The paper examines how the CEDAW was implemented in Morocco and analyzes the regulations and the discriminatory specifics within the North African country.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Discrimination against Women and the CEDAW
Discrimination against Women in Morocco
CEDAW in Morocco
Conclusions

From the Paper
"Morocco has implemented the CEDAW and has increased their efforts to reduce discrimination against women and promote gender equality. But the country remains divided between traditionalists and modernists, and the populations' mentality cannot be changed through international regulations. The regulations in the CEDAW were supported by the Morocco King Mohammed IV who implemented a wide series of laws to support women's rights. But the measures only fuelled the everlasting controversy between liberals and conservatives. "An estimated 100,000 people marched in Rabat in support of the government's proposed reforms in March 2000, while a counter-demonstration led by Islamists in Casablanca drew 200,000 to 500,000. As the new monarch began to liberalize Moroccan politics, women's rights became a flashpoint for the growing Islamist opposition.""

Tags:regulations, salary, inequality, rights

Abstract
The paper relates that the uprising in nationalism after the First World War led to a wave of decolonization after the Second World War, especially in Asia and Africa. The paper focuses on India's non-violent revolution and Algeria's violent war of independence that are two different cases of this process. The paper specifically examines the nationalist movement in India and its results and then reviews Algeria's historical background and demands for independence. The paper concludes by highlighting the similarities and differences between the Indian and Algerian pursuits of independence.

Outline:
India
Algeria
Indian and Algerian Pursuit of Independence

From the Paper
"The Congress Party "was an anti-colonial mass democratic party (...) enjoyed significant popular support" (Riley, 2007, 829). The Congress Party became after the First World War the main actor and the most successful in its efforts because its main adversaries, the left, were contained by the British rule, and due to its growing number of members. The party had a great deal of influence and power, not only from the number of supporters and members, but also due to its non-violent ideology. According to Riley, "central to Gandhi's program was non-violence as a tactic [with] a fine balance between restraint and radicalism following a compromise-struggle-compromise strategy" (Riley, 2007, 831), using both official negotiations but also civil disobedience and mass protests. Therefore, a violent confrontation on a large scale with the British administration was more reduced."

Tags:decolonization, independence, Gandhi

Abstract
This paper begins with a brief geographical description of Morocco. It then examines the country's water and land resources before moving on to its manufacturing industry. The paper focuses on one specific example of Morocco's primary manufacturing industry nowadays: the plastics manufacturing industry.

From the Paper
"Because of the increased addiction on hashish, the government cut back on its resin plant cultivation. However, due to the beneficial effects of resin production in the economic growth of the country, kif plantations were restored, and resins are used to manufacture chemicals such as turpentine, wax, benzoin, myrrh, and frankincense. However, for the plastic industry, synthetic resins are used to produce plastics, which are used to make containers and strong but lightweight materials to be commercially used domestically and internationally."

Tags:agriculture, resin, hashish, kif

Abstract
This paper discusses how through policies of suppression, division, and enculturation, the French colony of Algeria was transformed to match the needs of the French imperialist power. The author analyzes how the French were able to successfully divide the coalition between Arab and Berber populations as a means of exploiting the unwanted and hated Arab people in Algeria.

From the Paper
"The social history of Algeria is relevant to understanding inter-Algerian relations when the French arrived on the Northern coasts. The existing tensions amongst the Arab and Berber majority and minority were rooted in historical myth and memory. The French military was the first to attempt and exploit the strain through careful manipulation of the French presence in the state. Military officials recorded their interactions with local leaders and began to formulate theories designed to create hostilities between Arab and Berber peoples. As a civilian government was instilled by 1871, the official racial policies towards Algerians shifted to accommodate the new regime. During this period, the colonial government sought to curtail the growing resistance movement through a campaign of education and enculturation. The colonial government dangled a wide variety of opportunities to Algerians in the vain hopes that they would abandon the freedom movement and peacefully accept French control of the country. Unfortunately the policies of assimilation would have consequences on the existing balance amongst the people, but they were not significant enough to conceal the popularized fight for independence. During their reign, the French attempted to separate the various ethnic groups in Algeria to facilitate the process of suppressing and ultimately conditioning the Algerians to accept westernized values."

Tags:france berber arab machrib, french military, dey of algiers

Abstract
The paper studies the situation in Algeria as leadership and stability are being exchanged for radicalism. The writer looks at the writings of Dirk Axtmann about the nature of human identity in order to assess the inclination in Algeria to align itself with extremism. The writer traces the tragic events that have lately unfolded in the troubled country.

From the Paper
"At least 60,000 of Algeria's 28.6 million people have died in more than five years of conflict. The killings have been blamed for the most part on the Armed Islamic Group and other militant Islamic organizations, whose targets have included working women, unveiled women, government employees, journalists, academics, Roman Catholic clerics and even Islamic theologians who did not meet these groups' fundamentalist criteria (Algerian military linked to massacre of civilians, 1998, p. A15)."

Tags:fundamentalism, religion, identity, Western, killing

Abstract
This paper begins by stating the women in the twentieth century advanced in many spheres in most countries, especially the western world, but how women in Algeria are still treated as second-class citizens. It provides an overview of the political situation in Algeria and then looks at issues such as domestic abuse, the legal environment for women and women in government. It also discusses assassinations on women for "honor" reasons and the Islamic Salvation Front's (FIS) attitude towards women. The paper also discusses the Algerian woman's response to this type of treatment.

From the Paper
"President Liamine Zeroual, a former general, was elected in November 1995 to a five-year term. Zeroual previously had served as president of a transition government established by the army in 1994, which included a National Transition Council as a surrogate parliament. The President controls defense and foreign policy, appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers, and may dissolve the legislature. The presidential election was competitive. In a referendum held in November 1996, the government obtained approval of proposed changes to the constitution, including the provision of a second parliamentary chamber and greater presidential authority. In June 1997, Algeria held its first parliamentary elections since January 1992 (when elections were canceled due to unrest) and elected the first multiparty Parliament in Algerian history. The cancellation of the 1992 elections, which the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win, suspended the democratization process and a transition to a pluralistic republic, and escalated fighting, which still continues, between the security forces and armed Islamist groups seeking to overthrow the government and impose an Islamic state (Algeria Country Report, 1998, p. 1)."

Tags:islam, equality, feminism, FIS, domestic, abuse

Abstract
A thorough history of the city of Fez, Morocco. The author examines the religions present in the city, and their influences upon each other as well the architectural designs of the city. Includes a timeline of the major events of the city.

From the Paper
"The city of Fez is located in north-central Morocco, east of the capital city, Rabat. It is roughly 150 miles south of the Mediterranean and 150 miles inland from the Atlantic coast. Sited in a valley of the Middle Atlas Mountains and fed by the Wadi Fez River, the city has an excellent environment to prosper in. The lack of adverse natural conditions has caused the city to become a cultural, religious and commercial center in Morocco. Its location at the intersection of several important trade routes has kept the city one of the most technologically advanced in Africa. What has kept this city in such high regard by the millions of Muslims who visit it every year and the 570000 people who reside there? (www.i-cias.com) The answer lies in the rich history of Fez. "

Tags:africa, architecture, city, europe, history, islam, jew, madrasa, mosque, muslim

Abstract
This essay is a study of the resources, the major players and forces, and, finally, the people of the Western Sahara region in an effort to understand what has been done to resolve the conflict brought about by the violence and greed of the area's leaders. The paper discusses possible ways to bring about a peace settlement which would allow the people whose lives remain in constant turmoil and conflict to finally make permanent homes and focus on their daily lives of subsistent living. The citizens of the region who are not in the military, not engaged in the conflict, but whose lives are subjected to decisions and actions of the primary forces and power elites, live in terror each day. They are the ones who suffer the losses, and their lives and losses seem to be of little relevance to the forces in conflict and control. An effort is made in this study to understand why the conflict continues, and which groups or individuals are benefitting from the continued unrest and aggression. This paper includes maps.

Outline:
Introduction
The Moroccan Position
The Algerian Position
The Polasario Position
Human Rights and Loss
The Economic Cost of Western Sahara
The Political Cost of Western Sahara
Conclusion

From the Paper
"There is a need to understand the positions of the forces at play here. First, it is necessary to gain a sense of the region. What is the landscape, and who occupies what section of that landscape? From where does their claim on the landscape arise from? It is only by analyzing the landscape and the positions of the players that an effort to make sense of what has gone on and continues to go on in Western Sahara can begin to make sense. Even if the sense that it brings to the understanding of the dynamics of the situation belie the true interests of the parties involved. The first is the Moroccan position."

Tags:natural resources, Algeria Polisario Morocco