A series of recent conferences and reports have focused on the problems in North Africa, which can be boiled down to two – Ebola and terrorism. Although the fight against Ebola is getting some attention, the rise in number of terrorist incidents has captured the attention of governments worldwide in order to try to come to grips with actions needed to combat and extinguish this threat. Focusing international attention on the region can help enable the seeds of conflict resolution, political accommodation, economic and social development, and national reconciliation to emerge and reduce the forces of instability and chaos. The emergence of the ‘Islamic State,’ whose stated goal is establishing a ‘caliphate’ across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia, is of particularly ominous concern. ‘Islamic State-affiliates’ have recently carried out deadly attacks in Libya and Egypt's Sinai, and the group is gaining allies elsewhere in the region. Indeed, these extremist political and social entities are becoming increasingly linked, formally or informally, in a ‘holy alliance’ of ‘like-minded’ movements, as well as ‘strange bedfellows’ intent on trafficking, kidnapping, and violent extremism. The war the international community, particularly the West, is waging is generational, institutional, and unavoidable, but there are solutions that can be achieved based on shared values and mutual interests.