Several people sent in questions to Alex de Waal in response to his article, "African Roles in the Libyan Conflict of 2011″ available in the March 2013 edition of International Affairs. Below are de Waal's responses.

Seventeen women from six Arab countries discussed challenges and new trends in diplomacy during a weeklong seminar organized by the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry in association with leading research center The Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI).

An investigation into the State Department's preparations for and management of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, has concluded that "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies" within the department played a major role in the devastation that took place there last September.

Under other circumstances, advancing understanding of America through American Corners and Centers, of which the State Department has more than 800 throughout the world, is a great idea. But certainly not where the most basic security is missing, leaving State Department personnel dangerously exposed.

The Italian Foreign Minister, Guilio Terzi di Sant Agata, has emphasised the importance of using dialogue to bridge any cultural gap between the two countries. Speaking at the official reopening of the refurbished Italian Embassy in Tripoli, Terzi said that he supports strong cooperation between the two countries in a range of areas, most particularly the exchange of academics.

During the September 11 riots outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo, a staffer's sarcastic response to a tweet from the Muslim Brotherhood led to an exchange that was widely covered by the mainstream media. The tweets came on the heels of a controversial statement that the embassy published on its website shortly after an Egyptian salafi television show broadcast The Innocence of the Muslims, a crude U.S.-produced YouTube video that portrayed the prophet Mohamed as a womanizer and charlatan.

The sun had risen over a hazy Benghazi about an hour earlier, and as he grabbed the wheel of his militia’s beaten-up white Toyota pickup, 42-year-old Ibn Febrayir (not his real name) groused to himself that this was no way to treat an ambassador, especially U.S. envoy Christopher Stevens. He had heard war tales about the lanky, good-natured Californian.