Publication

This report examines how Algeria reinvigorated its foreign policy after the "black decade" of the 1990s and is now attempting to be “an anchor of stability” in its near-abroad. The latter effort, however, is being complicated by 1) the political legacy of the 1990s; 2) increasingly public schisms within Algeria’s ruling elite; 3) mounting anxiety over who will succeed the ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika; and 4) Algiers’ evolving rivalries with France and Morocco, both in the Maghreb and Sahel. Indeed, if Algeria wants to sustain the more deeply engaged, largely constructive approach it has taken since 2011, it will have to improve its relations with potential partners, including Morocco. That’s indeed possible, but only if Algeria demonstrates that it’s not interested in being a regional hegemon and prioritizes long-term peacebuilding efforts over imposing desired agreements for short-term gain.