It is commonly held that a compelling explanation of the foreign policy orientation of any country cannot be well understood without an examination of its determinants and guiding principles. A state’s foreign policy is also conditional on both domestic and external factors, which may change from time to time, thus forcing it to review its foreign policy to ensure that it operates in the best possible conditions to achieve its objectives. An examination of any country’s foreign policy must, if only by way of background, take into consideration the past, for history itself often determines the boundaries within which current politics evolve. In the case of Algeria, colonial history gave rise to many determinants which still exercise pertinent influences on Algerian foreign policy: factors whose origins lie in the past but which continue to impact contemporary policy.
The roots of independent Algeria's revolutionary foreign policy are commonly attributed to the impact of the extremely revolutionary national ideology acquired as a result of the sufferings endured by the Algerians in their resistance to and struggle against the French occupation and to the experience acquired by the Algerian diplomacy during wartime, as well as to the indifference of Western powers, particularly the United States, towards Algeria's revolutionary war against the French (Stone 228 - 229).
Algeria’s foreign policy constants include the right to decolonization, non-intervention in domestic affairs
French colonization continued to spread southwards in Africa. The effect France’s imperialism had over Algeria during this time had to do with modernizing their agricultural and commercial economy-Involved the use of slavery. The French had an advantage now
Resistance movements from the native Algerian population caused the new civil government to adopt a policy of settler superiority. This new government did not favor the Algerian people as the military regime has done in the past and instead established a system that would benefit the European minority much more than the Muslim majority. To start with, the new government sent representatives from the Algerian colony to the French parliament, but these representatives were of course French men and did not care for the native population. This in turn led into a total control of the Algerian economy and political structure by the settlers. This was part of the colonization process on the part of France which consisted of two parts, Assimilation and Association.
The process of decolonization proved to have its own struggles within those who were seeking their independence from imperialist powers. Evidently, these nationalist movements were different in many regions, but they generally shared the sentiment that “Westernization” had taken something away from them. This proved to be the case in Africa and Asia, where the colonization movement from imperialist powers was of strong presence, and that had trouble weakening during and after the Cold War. Part of this struggle was due to the forms of government that were imposed, and because many of these colonies had been in this position for such long time that they were not able to predict upcoming conflicts after their independence. However, in many cases, the problems were more complicated and often implied a combination of reaction to westernization and internal conflicts. Undoubtedly,
On June 12th, 1830 thirty-thousand French soldiers landed at Sidi Ferruch, twenty-seven kilometers from Algiers. After three weeks, the better trained and better equipped French soldiers captured Algiers and raped, looted, desecrated mosques, and destroyed cemeteries. Thus beginning a 132 year long occupation ripe with the arrogant cruelty of the French “civilizing mission”. The French mistreatment of Algerian natives would continue until a violent revolution, beginning in 1954, would eventually expel the French from Algeria, in 1962 (Algeria - FRANCE IN ALGERIA, 1830-1962).
global stability from the Cold War to the war on terror and cannot bear the loss of Western Sahara.” Zunes highlighted Moroccan’s ability to market its alleged threats from socialism to political Islam to appeal to the US and French foreign policy and consolidate support.
make a compelling case for the expression of the Algerian government’s role in the persistence of the conflict.
Eight years of war had shattered Algeria. There had been more than one million Algerian casualties and nearly two million Algerians had lost their homes. For over a century the French had deprived the Algerians of any but the most minimal opportunity to become involved in its infrastructure and institutions.
There are so many examples but this Essay focuses on the movie Battle of Algiers and how it depicts the violence of colonialism in Algeria by France and the price Algerians had to pay to regain what was previously
However, the greed for power overtook the French and made them create policies that were oppressive, ridiculous, and equated to too much for one group of people. Those strict policies and complete control would be the reason that the Algerian colony was able to break the hold of the French and continue the negative spiral that history had paved for them. Colonialism in Algeria would not be the answer to bolstering their image and would set the French further back than they were prior to having the territory handed to them during the Berlin Conference. However, the French were able to capitalize on the economic benefits of the colony and profit greatly while in control of the colony. The loss of Algeria as a colony in the 1960’s would equate to one of the most significant and defining aspects of what France would be like following the post-colonial era. The treatment of the Algerians and the over-bearing nature of the French could explain why the Algerian colony was a failed endeavor for the French. They attempted to control all political, social, and economic aspects of the colony to ensure that they were seen as powerful by not only the natives, but the other powerful European nations that were colonizing the African
Treligious tension runs high acroos all regions of the world, but when looking at statistics of religious conflicts the middle east has the greatest amount of religious war and turmoil than any other region of the world. Whether it be due to a diverse amount of rleligions spanning the close circumfrance of the middle east or because of political power, religious conflict is very prevalent in the middle eats. Algeria is no acceptoiin to this observation.
Through the pillaging of indigenous land, discriminatory land allocation practices, violent military presence, and objectification of Algerian women, the Algerian colonial experience was one of constant brutality. The result of such merciless colonial tactics was the rise in extremism, poor literacy rates, as well as unstable leadership. Having an understanding of colonial Algeria and its legacies is vital to comprehending contemporary Algeria due to the fact that numerous issues present in modern day Algeria are deeply rooted in its colonial past. The role of colonialism in Algeria should not be understated and studying the history of a former colony is key to being aware on how the past continues to shape and have a strong hold on
Perhaps the most important lesson of the film—and the French experience in Algeria—is that successful military tactics do not lead to lasting peace unless accompanied with a successful political strategy. The use of torture inevitably backfired on the French, reducing public support for the occupation. Although the FLN was crushed, the closing scene of the movie portrays Algerians in 1964 taking to the streets and demanding
They felt that it was part of the national identity and that without it France would not truly be itself. This strong identity of a French Algeria changed over the course of the war however, and eventually more and more French citizens were for the independence of Algeria and only a few number of the pied noirs and military elite held the idea that Algeria should remain part of France. It was this shift in the mentality of the French populous that influenced the French government, led by President Charles De Gaulle, to end the war and to grant Algeria its independence. To analyze this shift in French identity, the history of the colony needs to be understood along with the events of the war to be able to justify that the French people indeed has a change in their
The animosity leading to the Algerian civil war begins with the Algerians fight for independence. Before independence, terrorist activity by different Algerian nationalist groups pushing for decolonization begins to rise throughout the country. As a French settlement, the French settlers in Algeria begin to fight back in hopes of keeping Algeria as a French
When the war came to a close, over a million Algerians remained in France. These people, referred to as pied noirs, were a constant reminder of a violent past and forced citizens to address processes of amnesty and reconciliation. In the past, French citizens looked to French Algeria as a point of pride and a symbol of their nation’s colonial successes. Now, when memory of French Algeria and the war is reflected upon it carries with it demands for reparations and equality for the pied noirs, as well as for the millions of French soldiers or their families who were persecuted after their return. While often repressed, this memory of French Algeria has been used for political purposes as well. Right-wing politicians have pushed for the pardoning of hundreds of soldiers and officers who were involved in the horrific war. In my opinion, this government led amnesty was one reason racist murderers felt free to attack Algerian immigrants, as they did frequently in the 1970’s. After all, if the government allowed war crimes to go unpunished, why couldn’t the Algerian consulate be bombed without