Taking place sixty years since the Algerian revolution, today’s presidential elections presented the perfect occasion for the country to turn a new leaf after decades of mismanagement and stagnation. Instead, a litany of political and moral failures by the political class has turned a golden oppor
How the two sides can find a workable arrangement that doesn’t look like a climb-down by either party remains to be seen, but as things stand, the ingredients for further escalation are all too present.
As next year’s presidential elections loom larger on the national horizon, the country seems to be heading towards a political non-event.
A decade after his premature departure, Said’s life, in all its “disorganised, scattered, uncentred” richness will continue to radiate moral and intellectual sustenance, as well as untold surprises and delights.
In the weeks after the 1991 elections, official Algerian rhetoric too was replete with appeals to the popular will and the promises of a swift and total return to democracy. Promises that, two decades on, have yet to be fulfilled.
While there are too many differences between the two historical contexts for us to panic, the parallels are too numerous to ignore. An excerpt from the longer version of this article – for which, see here.
While many praise the remarkable determination of Sahrawi activists to maintain the peaceful character of their struggle, others signal this as a key factor behind their failure to secure a just resolution.
Might the end of one of the most remarkable, and defining, of political careers in Algeria’s history be upon us?
In launching their war of independence in November 1954, Algerians emphatically rejected this divisive bait, presenting instead an unshakeably united front against French hegemony, and rejecting numerous attempts to re-cast them into warring tribes fighting one another.
Away from the traditional circles of power, a new force has been working its way up to the surface of the Algerian political landscape: that of organised youth activism.
The tragic fate of Brahim and Haroun has acted as a powerful conduit for the expression of wider, deeper ills and discontent at the state of the nation.
This year's 41st anniversary, celebrated two weeks ago, has been marked in particularly gloomy fashion. Reports have recently emerged floating the prospect of oil reserves drying up and arguing that new discoveries are failing to keep pace with production. This might well turn out to be the best n
