Algeria and the Outside World

Abstract

Abstract Domestic politics in Algeria played out against a backdrop of significant changes in international politics. These were felt more directly than before because Algeria re-emerged onto the international stage following a decade that had seen it preoccupied and isolated by its own internal crises. Events and changes in Algeria's immediate regional environment exposed the country to new threats and challenges. The popular uprisings that shook the Arab world from 2011 led to the fall of established rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and the consequent collapse of state structures in Libya and Mali, the two states with which Algeria shared its longest borders. Consequently, Algeria came to be confronted by international terrorism. These developments obliged Algeria to shift its existing foreign policy priorities away from relations with Europe and the United States to its immediate region. This led Algeria to adopt a more activist foreign policy, seeking to stabilize neighbouring states through providing mediation in their internal conflicts and participating in regional and international initiatives. In this way and helped by its relative domestic stability up until 2019, Algeria came to be regarded as a respected and newly influential regional power.