New Site on Democratic Reform and Human Rights in the Maghreb
May 8th, 2009 by Jed
On POMED’s Morocco country page, James points out a new site from Magharebia.com. The site, titled Zawaya, aims to “create a space for thoughtful dialogue” by inviting a group of experts to comment on a particular topic and allowing readers to join in the discussion.
Posted in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia | Comment »
What If They Had an Election and Nobody Came?
April 9th, 2009 by Eoghan
Algeria held a presidential election today, and while the official tally is not yet in, it is widely believed that the incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will win the contest easily. The Algerian government is expected to use fraud and intimidation to ensure the president’s reelection, and anti-Bouteflika groups from left-wing opposition parties to Islamist parties and even al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have called for a boycott. A low turnout may improve the incumbent’s margin of victory, but at the same time undercut his perceived legitimacy. In fact, Bouteflika appears to be anxious about that risk. In the run-up to today’s vote, he campaigned across the country, urging Algerians to “Vote, even vote against me, but vote.”
Posted in Algeria, Elections, Islamist movements, al-Qaeda | Comment »
Potomac Institute & SAIS Release Report on North African Diplomacy
April 8th, 2009 by Eoghan
On POMED’s Morocco country page, James Liddell discusses a new report by the Potomac Institute and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on why and how the U.S. should promote regional cooperation in the Maghreb region of North Africa.
Posted in Algeria, Diplomacy, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, North Africa, Tunisia, US foreign policy | Comment »
Democracy Promotion in North Africa
April 7th, 2009 by Eoghan
Dana Moss, the Next Generation fellow at The Washington Institute, points out in the Christian Science Monitor that while the U.S. provides Morocco $110 million annually to address “drivers of youth disaffection,” Washington lacks a policy for promoting human rights and political reform in Tunisia and Algeria. “In conjunction with European partners, a far more detailed and extensive program of scholarships, technical expertise assistance, civic education, English language programs, and other development programs should be offered to Tunisia and Algeria.”
Posted in Algeria, Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Morocco, North Africa, Tunisia, US foreign policy | Comment »
Previewing the Algerian Elections
April 3rd, 2009 by Jed
In a new Washington Institute PolicyWatch briefing, Dana Moss previews the April 9 elections in Algeria. Nobody expects a change in leadership, as the re-election of Abdulaziz Bouteflika is practically guaranteed. The election was, for all intent and purposes, won when Bouteflika successfully pushed through a constitutional amendment allowing him to seek a third term. Moss asserts that Bouteflika’s stability creates less stability for the state as the public, specifically youth, question their democratic system. The very real possibility the amendment was secured by promising giant pay raises for members of parliament is only one troubling aspect of the elections. Additionally, Islamist parties are still not permitted to participate.
For the U.S. it boils down to more traditional concerns: terrorism and trade. The U.S.-Algerian alliance is still critically important in countering al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and with $20 billion in Algerian exports to the U.S. in 2008, Algeria is one of the largest Arab exporters to the U.S. market.
In the short run, it appears these concerns will continue to trump democracy promotion, but with an aging Bouteflika and waning public confidence in the government, the possibility for a shift certainly exists.
Posted in Algeria, Democracy Promotion, Elections, al-Qaeda | Comment »
Will Algerians Boycott a Sham Election?
April 2nd, 2009 by Eoghan
Algeria’s President Bouteflika will undoubtedly be elected to a third term on April 9 in elections expected to be rigged in his favor. But Ahmed Aghrout, a research fellow at the University of Salford in the UK, and Yahia H. Zoubir, professor of international relations at EUROMED Management school in France, say the regime’s “biggest fear” is a mass boycott by disgruntled Algerian citizens.
Posted in Algeria, Elections | 1 Comment »
Amnesty Calls for Action on Human Rights Abuses Ahead of Algerian “Elections”
March 31st, 2009 by Cecile
Yesterday, Amnesty International released a new report, “A Legacy of Impunity: A Threat to Algeria’s Future” expressing concern over the lack of investigation into the 200,000 deaths, mostly by the hands of security forces, which occurred during the 1990s. On its website, Amnesty UK explains “[s]ince 1999 the current president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has instigated and promoted widespread ‘amnesty’ measures, effectively preventing victims and their families from obtaining truth, justice, and reparation. Most crimes that took place during the conflict have never been investigated and the perpetrators never brought to justice.”
And speaking of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, it looks like he is one step closer to governing for life, “following the best traditions of the Arab world.” Mahmoud Belhimer explains that in reality “the result of these elections were announced on November12, 2008, when a review of the constitution was approved by the two chambers of parliament amending Article 74 of the 1996 Constitution that restricted presidents to serving two mandates.” This allowed Bouteflika to pursue a third term, which he is sure to win as there are no true challengers to his candidacy.
Posted in Algeria, Elections, Human Rights | Comment »
Political Islam at a Crossroads
December 15th, 2008 by Jason
The Carnegie Endowment has a new paper out by Marina Ottaway and Amr Hamzawy titled “Islamists in Politics: The Dynamics of Participation”. In it, they examine the experiences of politically active Islamist groups in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen. They find the groups increasingly torn between the compromising demands of participatory government and maintaining ideological purity to appeal to their core supporters. The report concludes that Islamists that are free from the constant threat of repression by the state are far more likely to moderate their views and play by democratic rules.
“While participation is not invariably a process of further democratization and moderation, it is also clear that non-participation—either enforced by governments or chosen by the leadership of Islamist parties and movements—is a guarantee that a process of moderation will not take place.”
Read the full report here.
Posted in Algeria, Bahrain, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Political Islam, Yemen | Comment »
Algeria Abolishes Presidential Term Limits
November 13th, 2008 by Jason
Yesterday the Algerian Parliament overwhelmingly approved amendments to the constitution abolishing presidential term limits, allowing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to seek a third term this spring. Opposition leaders lamented the clear “constitutional coup”. Bouteflika, however, was overjoyed: “This is a historic day for Algeria,” he said, as the amendments “will enshrine our democracy and (guarantee) solid and durable institutions.”
Bouteflika’s diligence in “enshrining democracy” in this way is probably why Secretary Rice called him “truly one of the wise men” of the region two months ago.
Posted in Algeria, Elections, Reform | Comment »
Arab Reform Bulletin: Just Read the Whole Thing
September 11th, 2008 by Jason
I was going to post about another great article up at Carnegie’s revamped Arab Reform Bulletin, but I see that they’ve got a wealth of wonderful stuff, so just go devour the whole site.
Something for everyone: Iraqi politics; security courts in Saudi Arabia; the below-mentioned repentant jihadists in Egypt; upcoming elections in Algeria, and Kuwaiti rentier state analysis for all the theorists out there.
Posted in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia | Comment »
Stability vs. Democracy: Sec. Rice in North Africa
September 9th, 2008 by Jason
Secretary Rice continued her tour of North Africa with visits to Algeria and Tunisia. Her meetings with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and President Zine Abidine Ben Ali, respectively, focused on counterterrorism cooperation. Though she said she raised the issue of democratic reform in private meetings. “We talked about internal matters here in Tunisia and about the course of reform,” Rice said. “We have been very clear that we would hope that Tunisia would do more.”
In Algeria, Rice called President Bouteflika “truly one of the wise men” of the region. No word on who else makes the secretary’s “wise men” short list.
Bret Stephens in the WSJ argues that Rice’s rapprochment with Libya represents the final “triumph of the stability agenda over the freedom one.”
Posted in Algeria, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Human Rights, Libya, Tunisia | 1 Comment »
Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb
July 2nd, 2008 by Adam
GrandMasta Splash at Arabic Media Shack analyzes the recent New York Times article examining Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Splash says the Times article exaggerates the Al-Qaeda links as their tactics, such as killing foreigners, were part of the GIA’s repertoire during its conflict with the Algerian government in the 1990s. Furthermore, according to Splash, the group’s linking with Al-Qaeda is a sign of weakness as they were nearly crushed by the Algerian government and had to align with Bin Laden as a last ditch effort to save their organization from complete marginalization.
Posted in Algeria, North Africa, Terrorism, al-Qaeda | Comment »
The Education of Algiers
June 23rd, 2008 by Adam
Michael Slackman in the New York Times examines how Algeria is using education reform to weaken Islamist influences within the country. Some reforms include a re-introduction of French, emphasis on math and science, a revised religious curriculum, and greater emphasis on critical thinking rather than rote learning. The reforms are facing strident opposition from the Islamists and there is fear that the country may once again be plunged into instability.
Posted in Algeria, Reform | Comment »
POMED Notes: Rethinking Democracy Promotion in Middle East at USIP
January 17th, 2008 by Nicolas
Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted an event entitled “Rethinking Democracy Promotion in the Middle East,” featuring Cairo-based writer and scholar Hugh Roberts, formerly of International Crisis Group, giving an analysis and critique of Western efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East, with suggestions for revamping the approach. Roberts largely criticized the current approach to promoting democracy as ineffective, counterproductive intereference in the internal affairs of Middle Eastern states.
Responses to Roberts were given by Stephen King of Georgetown and Matthew Frumin of NDI, moderated by USIP’s Dina Shehata, followed by a lively Q & A session.
Click here for POMED’s full notes on the event.
Posted in Algeria, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, North Africa, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy | Comment »
Poverty is not the Root of Terrorism
December 14th, 2007 by Celest
Abu Muqawama argues against a New York Times article about the Algiers bombing that implies that poverty leads to terrorism.
Posted in Algeria, Terrorism | Comment »
Learning from the Algiers Bombing
December 14th, 2007 by Celest
An editorial in Forward looks for lessons from the recent bombing in Algiers and asks, “Did [Algeria’s leaders] miss an opportunity a decade ago to tame the Islamists and bring them inside, before they morphed into a monster?” It concludes by questioning if Israel should learn this lesson and open dialogue with Hamas.
Posted in Algeria, Hamas, Israel, Political Islam, Political Parties, Terrorism | Comment »
Ruling FLN Wins in Algerian Local Elections
November 30th, 2007 by Sean
In Thursday’s elections, the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) took a majority of seats at stake, followed by its coalition partner the National Democratic Rally. Voter turnout is reported at 43%.
Posted in Algeria, Elections | Comment »
Eve of Algerian Local Elections
November 28th, 2007 by Sean
Algerian local elections are being held tomorrow, following the end of campaigning by political parties who remain concerned about voter turnout. The legislative elections in May faced a measure of voter apathy and boycotts, and some Algerians have voiced skepticism that the current elections are merely “passing off old as new.”
The local elections have also given President Abdelaziz Bouteflika an opportunity to begin campaigning for a constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek a third term in presidential elections in 2009.
Posted in Algeria, Elections, Political Parties | Comment »
MERIP: The Politics of Youth
November 19th, 2007 by Sean
The new issue of the Middle East Report has been released, including articles on youth and politics by Ted Swedenburg and Marc Lynch, James McDougall on “Algeria’s transition to uncertainty,” and several others.
Posted in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Muslim Brotherhood, Publications | Comment »
After an Attempted Assassination, A Look at the Record of Algeria’s President
October 25th, 2007 by Sean
In the Weekly Standard, Roger Kaplan comments on the ‘ambiguous’ record of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was the target of a foiled assassination attempt early last month. Kaplan argues that Bouteflika’s regime, having achieved “some measure of national reconciliation” and stability after years of civil war, continues to face challenges from certain Islamist movements.
Posted in Algeria, Reform, Terrorism | Comment »
