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Algeria
The United States
Historically, the United States and Algeria have had competing
foreign policy objectives that have come closer only gradually.
Algeria's commitment to strict socialism and to a global revolution
against Western capitalism and imperialism antagonized relations
with the United States, seen, in Algerian eyes, to embody all
that the revolution scorned. United States maintenance of good
relations with France precluded close ties with Algeria in the
years during and following the War of Independence, although the
United States sent an ambassador to Algeria in 1962. Algeria broke
diplomatic relations with the United States in 1967, following
the June 1967 war between Israel and most of its neighbors, and
United States relations remained hostile throughout the next decade.
United States intervention in Vietnam and other developing countries,
Algerian sponsorship of guerrilla and radical revolutionary groups,
United States sympathies for Morocco in the Western Sahara, and
United States support for Israel all aggravated a fundamental
ideological and political antagonism. Official relations resumed
in the mid-1970s, although it was not until the late 1970s that
relations normalized. By then Algerian leniency and passive tolerance
for terrorist hijackers drew enough international criticism that
the government modified its policy of allowing aid and landing
clearance at Algerian airports for hijackers.
In the 1980s, increased United States demands for energy and
a growing Algerian need for capital and technical assistance lessened
tensions and resulted in increased interaction with the United
States after the relative isolation from the West during the Boumediene
years. Liberalization measures undertaken by Benjedid greatly
facilitated the improved relations. In fact, an economic rapport
with the West had been growing throughout the previous decade
despite tense political relations. Algeria was becoming an important
source of petroleum and natural gas for the United States. In
1980 the United States imported more than US$2.8 billion worth
of oil from Algeria and was Algeria's largest export market.
Algeria's role as intermediary in the release of the fiftytwo
United States hostages from Iran in January 1981 and its retreat
from a militant role in the developing world as its domestic situation
worsened opened the path to peaceful relations with the United
States. Algeria's domestic situation was becoming increasingly
critical because its traditional source of economic assistance,
the Soviet Union, was threatened by internal problems. In search
of alternative sources of aid, in 1990 Algeria received US$25.8
million in financial assistance and bought US$1.0 billion in imports
from the United States, indicating that the United States had
become an important international partner.
On January 13, 1992, following the military coup that upset Algeria's
burgeoning democratic system, the United States issued a formal
but low-key statement condemning the military takeover. Twenty-four
hours later, Department of State spokesmen retracted the statement,
calling for a peaceful resolution but offering no condemnation
of the coup. Since then, the United States, like many of its Western
counterparts, has appeared resigned to accepting a military dictatorship
in Algeria. The military government has reaffirmed its commitment
to liberalizing its domestic economy and opening the country to
foreign trade, undoubtedly accounting for some of the Western
support for the new Algerian regime.
Data as of December 1993
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