Algeria at the beginning of the 21st century: internal contradictions and the guidelines of regional policy

The contradictory processes of the revival of Algeria’s socio-political landscape after the end of the 1991-1999 civil war had a significant impact on the approaches of the Administration of Algerian President Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika (1999-2019) to regional conflicts and cooperation with the Maghreb and Sahel countries. The purpose of this study is to analyze the combination of an authoritarian regime and a relatively inclusive party-political system as a leading factor in the successful neutralization of extremist forces by the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria (PDRA) and the implementation of a balanced foreign policy. At the beginning of the 21st century, the post-war amnesty and the legalization of the moderate wing of Algerian Islamists stabilized the political life of PDRA. The introduction of Algeria’s political life into the legal framework has allowed the National People’s Army and the country’s special services to establish a consistent counter-terrorism and organized crime in the Sahara-Sahel region. These circumstances have predetermined the Algerian leadership’s special interest in military-political cooperation with Mali, Niger and other Sahel countries. The deep causes and features of the aggravation of the Algerian-Moroccan confrontation at the beginning of the XXI century are revealed. The political arguments and ideological attitudes of the parties to the conflict over Western Sahara are shown. The author gives an assessment of the role of the Libyan crisis in the evolution of the foreign policy course of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria in the 2010s. The high importance of the direction of regional policy in the overall balance of interaction between the Algeria and the outside world has been proved.