In the 19th century France built a new French colonial empire second only to the British Empire. It was humiliated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, which marked the rise of Germany to dominance in Europe. France allied with Great Britain and Russia and was on the winning side of the First World War. If it was initially easily defeated early in the Second World War, Free France, through its Free French Forces and the Resistance, continued to fight against the Axis powers as an Allied nation and was ultimately considered one of the victors of the war, as the allocation of a French occupation zone in Germany and West Berlin testifies, as well as the status of permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It fought losing colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria. The Fourth Republic collapsed and the Fifth Republic began in 1958 to the present. Under Charles De Gaulle it tried to block American and British influence on the European community. Since 1945, France has been a founding member of the United Nations, of NATO, and of the European Coal and Steel Community. As a charter member of the United Nations, France holds one of the permanent seats in the Security Council and is a member of most of its specialized and related agencies.
The foreign relations of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi (1969–2011) underwent much fluctuation and change. They were marked by severe tension with the West and by other national policies in the Middle East and Africa, including the Libyan government's financial and military support for numerous paramilitary and rebel groups.
The foreign relations of Sudan are generally in line with the Muslim Arab world, but are also based on Sudan's economic ties with the People's Republic of China and Russia.
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as the seventh head of state of Sudan under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'état. He was subsequently incarcerated, tried and convicted on multiple corruption charges. He came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south. He was elected three times as president in elections that have been under scrutiny for electoral fraud. In 1992, al-Bashir founded the National Congress Party, which remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur. On 11 February 2020, the Sudanese government announced that it had agreed to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC for trial.
MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as SWANA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia and is a way to refer to the geography instead of the political term.
Arab League–Iran relations refer to the political, economic, and cultural ties between the League of Arab States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The former is a regional organization composed of 22 Arab states in MENA with a combined majority of Sunni Muslims, whereas the latter is a country in Western Asia with a majority of Shia Muslims.
The Libyan–Sudanese relations refers to the long historical relations between Libya and Sudan, both are Arab countries.
The Arab League or League of Arab States was founded by Egyptian in 1945, has 21`* members and five observer members so far: Armenia, Brazil, Eritrea, Republic of India, and Venezuela.
Sudan–United States relations are the bilateral relations between Sudan and the United States. The United States government has been critical of Sudan's human rights record and has dispatched a strong UN Peacekeeping force to Darfur. Relations between both countries in recent years have greatly improved, with Sudan's post-revolutionary government compensating American victims of al-Qaeda terror attacks, the removal of Sudan from the State Department's blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism and the United States Congress having reinstated Sudan's sovereign immunity in December 2020.
Relations between Algeria and Libya are considerably strained by tensions between the revolutionary National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya and the single-party autocracy of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria. Bilateral relations were generally amicable during Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule of Libya.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey relations have always fluctuated between cooperation and alliance to enmity and distrust. Since the 19th century, the two nations have always had a complicated relationship. While Turkey and Saudi Arabia are major economic partners, the two have a tense political relationship, deemed from the historic enmity.
The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and economic stagnation. From Tunisia, the protests then spread to five other countries: Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. Rulers were deposed or major uprisings and social violence occurred including riots, civil wars, or insurgencies. Sustained street demonstrations took place in Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Sudan. Minor protests took place in Djibouti, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world is ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām!.
The foreign relations of Libya were largely reset at the end of the Libyan Civil War, with the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi and the Second Libyan Civil War. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs Since 15 March 2021 is Najla Mangoush Although many foreign embassies in Tripoli closed down in 2014 due to the fighting, by the end of 2017 thirty diplomatic missions were reopened in the Libyan capital.
India–South Sudan relations refers to the bilateral ties between the Republic of India and the Republic of South Sudan. India recognised South Sudan on 9 July 2011, the day South Sudan became an independent state. India maintains an embassy at Juba, and South Sudan maintains an embassy in New Delhi.
Iran–Sudan relations refers to diplomatic, economic and military relations between Sudan and Iran. For nearly three decades, Iran and Sudan enjoyed a close relationship. However, Sudan decided to expel all Iranian groups just hours before joining a Saudi military operation in Yemen in March 2015 as the Sudanese President is said to be calculating in favour of his fragile economy in addition to the trauma and horror which struck the Sudanese society when seeing its best and brightest joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) this March, generating a huge public alarm about regional security. The emotional component of protecting Saudi Arabia and walking back to the unfolded dramatically in Arab media. On January 4, 2016 Sudan cut off all diplomatic relations with Iran due to tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. As a result, the bond between both countries has severely soured.
The Second Libyan Civil War was a multilateral civil war that lasted from 2014 to 2020 in the North African country of Libya fought between different armed groups, mainly the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Government of National Accord.
Algeria is one of the few countries that, despite being a majority Sunni Arab country, has been friendly towards mostly Shia Iran. Although enjoying a cordial relationship, at times relations between two countries have been strained, such as during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s, or with the current position of the Arab world towards Iran. Nonetheless, Algeria retains close and friendly ties with Iran due to its neutrality at the expense of Saudi Arabia.
Libyan–Tunisian relations are longstanding between the two neighbouring North African Maghreb states, Libya and Tunisia.
Libya–Morocco relations is the bilateral relations between Libya and Morocco, two Arab-Berber North African and Maghreb countries. Libya has an embassy in Rabat and Morocco has an embassy in Tripoli, which was attacked by ISIS militants in 2015.
Libyan–Saudi Arabian relations refers to the current and historical relations between Libya and Saudi Arabia. Libya has an embassy in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia has an embassy in Tripoli, though the Saudi embassy has closed since 2015.
