Washington Institute : Trump should enhance relations with Algeria

Experts warned the US new administration against neglecting the region of the north-west Africa including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. They believe that those countries do not attract the same amount of interest as countries in conflict regions.

Robert Staloff and Sarah Feuer from the Washington Institute say that the countries of northwest Africa—Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia—have proven either more resilient or more adaptive than other Middle East states to the political upheavals that have engulfed the region over the last half-dozen years. To varying degrees, however, stability remains a major challenge for all these countries as they face transnational terrorism, spillover from the conflict in Libya, abrupt shifts in domestic political dynamics, potential flare-ups of regional conflicts, and unforeseen events that could ignite deepseated resentment at a local mix of stagnant economies, endemic corruption, and profound disparities between wealth and poverty.

 In their essay, the two experts discussed ways to reinforce the US interests in terms of bilateral and regional relations.         

They also said the US should deal with strong and democratic countries ready to work in partnership with Washington to achieve common goals.

 They recommended the new US President to give priority to three strategic objectives : reinforcing stability, preventing terrorism spread and ensuring maritim security.

Speaking about Washington-Algiers relations, the experts believe that Algeria will continue to face terrorist threats along its borders and an economy badly hit by the decline in oil prices.

They advise the Trump administration to enhance engagement with Algeria— and America’s ability to capitalize on potential openings in the relationship.

 « Even if the relationship remains focused on defense, security, and counterterrorism, Washington should consider inviting Algeria into related partnerships.Trump administration should pursue a number of initiatives in both the bilateral and regional arenas. None requires enormous sums of money or substantial investments of diplomatic capital. But indifference will almost surely open the door for negative trends and developments to morph into larger problems and, possibly, crises. With relatively modest investment of diplomatic attention, economic aid, security assistance, and bureaucratic effort, the new administration will likely be able to safeguard U.S. interests in northwest Africa, » they said.

The experts also recommend to encourage and facilitate regular engagements between U.S. and Algerian commercial interests to ensure that American companies are well positioned to take advantage of this opening when it occurs.