Algeria Modern

From Opacity to Complexity

Martinez Luis, Boserup Rasmus Alenius

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Spared by the Arab revolts, Bouteflika's Algeria continues to intrigue observers. How does its political system function? Who really governs? Who are behind the protests? How strong are the Islamists? Are there alternatives to dependence on hydrocarbons? And how will the regime securitise its vast and unstable Sahara hinterland?

Algeria has been depicted for many years as politically opaque, incomprehensible, and under the control of powerful, occult-like intelligence agencies. While these caricatures are all partly true, they understate how much the country has changed since the 1990s. Algeria today is complex, and challenging to comprehend; but it is no longer opaque.

"Algeria Modern" analyses the complexity of state and society and the strategies that social and political actors employ. It demonstrates how interest groups that constitute the core of the regime are linked to both the security and business sectors, which while defending their turf and united by shared values are in perennial competition.

About the Author

Luis Martinez is a Senior Research Fellow at CERI Sciences Po in Paris. He has been Visiting Professor at Columbia University, New York (2000-2001) and at the University of Montreal (2007-2008). A political scientist and a specialist on the Maghreb and the Middle East, his books include "The Algerian Civil War, 1990-1998", "The Libyan Paradox", "The Enigma of Islamist Violence" (co-edited with A. Blom and L. Bucaille), and "The Violence of Petro-Dollar Regimes: Algeria, Iraq and Libya".

Rasmus Alenius Boserup is Senior Researcher, Foreign Policy, at the Danish Institute for International Studies.

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