Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0009/00096.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 28KB | 442 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00096}
$Pretitle{244}
$Title{Algeria
Chapter 4D.   Foreign Relations}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Jean R. Tartter}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{algeria
algeria's
morocco
arab
relations
bendjedid
western
countries
mauritania
sahara}
$Date{1985}
$Log{}
Country:     Algeria
Book:        Algeria, A Country Study
Author:      Jean R. Tartter
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1985

Chapter 4D.   Foreign Relations

     The permanent features of Algeria's foreign policy have included
alignment with neither East nor West, identification with the Third World and
advocacy of the political and economic independence of the developing
countries, and support for Arab unity and the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO). As expressed by Bendjedid in his report to the Fifth
Congress of the FLN in December 1983, Algeria's own independence was
reinforced by acting in solidarity with "all people who battle to recover
their sovereignty, or to free themselves from all forms of dependence,
hegemony, or exploitation." Thus, Algeria has striven for a "closing of ranks
against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, Zionism, and racism." In
aligning itself against "imperialism," Algeria has conveyed its opposition to
Western capitalism, a position determined by its revolutionary history and its
ideology.

     In spite of the country's professed nonalignment, it has found itself
closer to the Soviet Union than to the West on most issues and in its voting
record in the United Nations (UN). This has not been the result of any
affinity for the Soviet Union per se nor for communism but rather because of
Moscow's record of anticolonialism and its backing of the Arab states against
Israel. Under Bendjedid, Algeria has progressively shifted to a more genuinely
nonaligned course in its approach to East-West issues.

     In the immediate postindependence period between 1963 and 1965, Ben
Bella's style was based on revolutionary politics and polemical rhetoric. He
blamed domestic problems on external plots and machinations. He promoted not
only the overthrow of colonial regimes in Africa and Asia but also the
subversion of moderate and conservative independent governments. His vision of
Algeria at the head of an Afro-Asian bloc united against the evils of the West
went far beyond the new nation's capacities, and in concentrating on this
issue he neglected more pressing internal demands.

     Boumediene at first turned his attention to domestic rather than to
foreign issues but gradually took a more pronounced stand on Middle Eastern
questions, insisting on Arab unity and intransigence toward Israel. This
emphasis shifted during the 1970s to promoting economic independence of the
Third World, based on the nationalization of natural resources and the
diversification of trading partners. Algeria strongly backed the movement for
a new world economic order, which would tie the prices that raw material
producers of the developing world received for their goods to those of capital
goods imported from the industrialized nations. It also advocated greater
"South-South" cooperation, i.e., among developing countries, as a supplemental
factor in restructuring world economic relations.

     Algeria exercised considerable diplomatic initiative in rallying Third
World support for its concept of nonalignment and world economic relations at
meetings of UN agencies, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), the Group of 77 (see Glossary), and the Nonaligned Movement.
Elaborating on its vision of a new world economic order, Algeria asserted that
it should embrace commodity agreements for Third World exports, the conversion
of Third World debts to grants, and a modification of terms of trade to
benefit the poorer nations. Although Algeria's interest in these issues has
receded somewhat under Bendjedid, Algeria was one of 14 developing countries
that met with leading Western nations at Cancun, Mexico, in October 1981 to
discuss progress on North-South economic issues. It joined eight other
nonaligned countries in New Delhi in April 1983 to relaunch global
negotiations on the international economic order. This effort was followed by
the Sixth Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD)in June 1983 at Belgrade, which concluded without agreement on the
main objectives of the developing nations.

     Algeria's activism has also led it to offer its services as intermediary
in a number of international disputes. Its senior foreign affairs officers,
supported by a professional corps of trained diplomats, have demonstrated
considerable skill in handling sensitive negotiations, thereby reinforcing its
reputation as a practiced and influential actor on the world political scene.
Its most successful mediating role resulted in the release in January 1981 of
52 American hostages held for 15 months by Iran. In the past, however,
Algeria's diplomatic initiatives have not always been held in such high
esteem, and its tendency to speak as the conscience of the Third World has
been unappreciated. Its blunt tactics of confrontation have sometimes proved
to be counterproductive.

     Although still stressing Algeria's role in the Nonaligned Movement, the
Organization of African Unity (OAU), and the North-South economic dialogue,
Bendjedid has subtly recast Algeria's approach, relying less on dogmatic
appeals in the search for its goals. Relations with the West have become less
volatile owing in part to the establishment of valuable commercial ties
anchored by long-term agreements for the sale of natural gas. The Algerian
government has lowered its voice on questions affecting the Arab countries but
has continued to urge an end to the divisions that have enabled Israel to
bring the PLO into disarray. Bendjedid boasted at the Fifth FLN Congress that
the country's "good neighbor" policy had as its objective the creation of an
exemplary zone of cooperation and stability where the Arab Maghrib and Black
Africa came together.

     A treaty of friendship and concord entered into with Tunisia and
Mauritania in 1983 was depicted by the Algerian leader as a significant step
in the construction of a Greater Maghrib. His unflagging support for the
insurgent movement in the Western Sahara fighting for independence from
Morocco prevented rapprochement with Rabat. Algeria's commitment to national
liberation movements and its own history instilled a sense of obligation
toward the Western Saharan forces, despite the strains produced in its
relations with neighboring Morocco.

The Western Sahara

     During the late 1960s and early 1970s Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria
formed a united anticolonial front, which pressed for Spanish evacuation from
the Western Sahara. In 1968 the UN General Assembly adopted the first of
several resolutions calling for self-determination for the Saharawi people.
Harboring no territorial aspirations of its own but not wishing the territory
to go to any of its neighbors, Algeria has consistently supported the UN
position. Spain announced in May 1975 its decision to evacuate the area as
soon as possible. Morocco has laid historic claim to the territory, as had
Mauritania, although the latter had advocated self-determination by the
Saharawi inhabitants. The International Court of Justice, which had been
requested by a UN resolution to judge the Moroccan and Mauritanian claims,
found that historical ties did exist in both cases but that they were
insufficient no establish sovereignty. After negotiations among Spain,
Mauritania, and Morocco, it was agreed in 1975 that the Saharan territory
would be divided, the northern two-thirds coming under Moroccan control and
the remainder to be administered by Mauritania (see fig. 14).

     A number of guerrilla movements had been operating in the area since
1973. The dominant insurgent force, the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia el
Hamra y Rio