The youthful energy that once thrummed through the streets of Tunis, ousting a long-entrenched dictator more than a decade ago, has withered in the face of an unchecked authoritarian resurgence.

A self-inflicted crisis in Europe, arising from controversial border externalization policies, is unfolding with the predictability that many warned it would.

In an election marked by apathy and skepticism, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune secured an overwhelming — albeit predictable — victory, clinching 94 percent of the vote when Algerians went to the polls last week.