Mohammed Akacem

The Role of External Actors in Algeria's Transition

As one of the few former French colonies that gained independence after a long and bloody war, Algeria has cultivated an identity of political and economic autonomy. Historically, Algeria has been reluctant to accept meddling in its internal affairs. After its independence in 1962 and until 1978, when President Houari Boumediènne died, Algeria asserted itself actively in international affairs. It assumed leadership positions in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and in international organisations where it often spoke on behalf of the Third World and confronted Western interests directly. Some observers expected independent Algeria to maintain its close preindependence political and military ties to the Soviet Union. In the view of Algerian officials, however, it was the Soviet Union that aligned itself with Algeria because of the latter’s role as a NAM and Third World leader. Although it continued to receive military assistance from the Soviets and still has arms agreements with Russia, Algeria’s experience with France influenced the arms-length approach it developed to avoid domination by foreign powers. Algeria was one of the first countries to nationalise its hydrocarbon sector, a move that other oil producers followed. Within the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Algeria has a reputation as a price hawk, demanding an appreciating price of oil and stronger resolve from OPEC to maintain it, even while Algeria has exceeded OPEC production quotas. Algeria has been less constrained by external powers than other oildependent states, sometimes leading to regional resentment and apprehension about the example Algeria sets. Regional leaders were alarmed, for example, when Mossadegh of Iran was toppled and replaced by the Shah after he began nationalising British petroleum assets. Algeria’s self-sufficient identity is linked to the process by which it gained independence – a process that has become institutionalised in political structures that may have outlasted their usefulness now that Algeria is making a transition to a more liberal political and economic system. At each turning point in