Algeria’s Security Policy: Transformations and Dilemmas in the Context of Regional Unrest and Internal Ḥirāk

Authors

  • Author

  • Abdennour Benantar

Keywords:

Security Policy, Algeria, Regional Security, Army Participation in Peacekeeping, Border Security

Abstract

This study examines Algeria’s security policy generally and its security doctrine specifically, analysing its transformations and dilemmas in a turbulent regional environment and in the ḥirāk context internally. It argues that both policy and doctrine have undergone minor adjustments as an adaptation to regional security imperatives, ruling out any essential transformation at present. Further, it argues that tensions between ethical-normative and security imperatives on one hand, and the principles of non-interference and non-intervention on the other, represent two essential quandaries facing Algeria’s security policy. It is on the basis of these two elements that this study examines Algeria’s security policy, doctrine, and the transformations therein. Next, it takes pause at the decision to constitutionalise the participation of Algerian armed forces in international peacekeeping operations, examining its contexts (locally and abroad), motivations, justifications, and challenges. Regionally, it analyses Algeria’s security strategy as an alternative to intervention, reaching three essential conclusions: first, a limited adaptation to the issue of foreign intervention has occurred; second, Algeria’s absolute refusal to deploy troops beyond its borders has come to an end; and third, heightened tension between ethical-normative and security considerations in the event of continued unrest in its neighbourhood is likely.

References

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