ALGERIAN PATRIOTS - ENGLISH

Avoiding direct polemics or loud declarations, Algeria has opted for heritage diplomacy and UNESCO procedure to respond—indirectly—to Moroccan claims over the origin of the caftan. At the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (New Delhi, 8–13 December), Algiers emphasized confirmations and updates to elements inscribed since 2012, reinforcing its reading: the caftan is an authentic element of Algerian cultural identity, recognized within UNESCO’s framework. A Procedural Argument Elevated to Cultural Diplomacy In a statement published on 11 December via official channels, the Ministry of Culture and the Arts hailed “a new victory” for Algerian cultural diplomacy . Without departing from institutional sobriety, its communication stressed two core points: Inscription precedents : According to Algiers, the caftan appears in national files recorded since 2012, notably within the recognition of Tlemcen’s traditional herit...

The sixty‑day window that some outlets attributed to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff closed without a “breakthrough” or any discernible political shift. No agreement, no formal talks, no pressure, no leverage—nothing. That outcome alone undercuts the narrative that framed this window as a “historic opportunity” or a “pressure card” aimed at Algeria. It also invites a broader reading anchored in the structural logic of power in North Africa, the Sahel, and the Mediterranean. 1) Algerian Decision‑Making Sovereignty and the Limits of the Diplomatic “Ultimatum” Algeria’s external posture is rooted in sovereign decision‑making and a renewed non‑alignment: it does not bend to convenience “timelines” or conditional injunctions. This is precisely why no official U.S. position ever established a binding deadline, brandished sanctions, or conditioned energy/economic files on a “response” to the initiative. In practice, the ultimatum is a low‑yield instrument against an actor for whom the political cos...

A recent official letter from Morocco to UNESCO has reignited a simmering cultural dispute between Rabat and Algiers . In its correspondence, the Moroccan government denounces what it calls “inappropriate remarks” — including expressions such as “sons of Bousbir” and “Kingdom of Marrakech” — allegedly voiced by Algerian civil society during the evaluation of Morocco’s bid to inscribe the “Moroccan” Caftan on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Rabat accuses these actors of “political manipulation” and urges the organization to safeguard the integrity of its assessment process. Yet behind this diplomatic exchange lies a far deeper controversy: the origins of the Caftan and the legitimacy of Morocco’s claim to register it as part of its national heritage. Algerian civil society, highly active in heritage advocacy, views Rabat’s move as a blatant act of cultural appropriation — particularly since the Caftan was already recognized in 2012 by UNESCO as an ele...

Sometimes a project is so vast, so audacious, so gloriously out of proportion that it feels more like a legend than an engineering plan. The Nigeria–Morocco gas pipeline—recently dissected by the American consultancy North Africa Risk Consulting (NARCO) —is a textbook example. NARCO didn’t pull any punches, branding it a “pharaonic,” “useless,” and outright “white elephant” venture. In plain terms: colossal in cost, endless in scope, and almost certain to defy logic. TSGP vs. GAA: Logic Meets Imagination On one side stands Algeria’s Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) —a focused, pragmatic project involving just three countries: Nigeria, Niger, and Algeria . Most of the infrastructure is already in place, and aside from the Niger segment, the route is relatively straightforward. On the other side, Morocco champions the Atlantic Africa Pipeline (GAA) —an ambitious line stretching across 11 coastal nations , winding north to Morocco before crossing into Europe. A marathon pipeline riddled ...

For years, Algeria ’s official discourse—both presidential and governmental—has upheld a clear and consistent position: the dispute is not with the Moroccan people , but with the regime that governs them . This principle sustains a deliberate distinction between societies and state apparatuses, in line with an Algerian diplomatic doctrine that favors solidarity among peoples and opposition to expansionist state policies , rather than to civil societies themselves. Yet the evolution of Moroccan social discourse —especially on social media and within certain opinion segments—today poses a significant analytical challenge: a substantial portion of hostile rhetoric directed at Algeria —insults, identity-based attacks, and talk of the “Eastern Sahara”—does not emanate from Moroccan officials, but from sizeable segments of Moroccan society itself. This reality compels a reassessment of the geopolitical wisdom of indefinitely maintaining the “people vs. regime” distinction in the Moroccan...

Rapid developments in the Maghreb reveal a major strategic shift in Morocco’s behavior —a shift that can only be interpreted through a deliberate logic of pressure, provocation, and the maximal expansion of its maneuvering space. This approach—marked by a posture of escalation, defiance, and a break with regional balances—dangerously brings the region closer to the specter of armed confrontation . While some persist in wrapping the crisis in a rigid diplomatic discourse , political and operational data indicate that a solution will not emerge before the moment of explosion; at best, it will be imposed by the consequences of conflict. 1. Morocco’s Transformation: From Defensive to Strategic Offensive Since 2020, Rabat has adopted an unprecedented offensive posture in regional history, structured around three main axes: Expanding external alliances , notably through security and military normalization with Israel , including sensitive arms contracts that have created an artificial...

Since the Algerian government resolved to revive the strategic Gara Djebilet mining project (1), Moroccan media—both official and unofficial—has hastened to seize upon the subject, invoking an alleged “historical right” of Morocco over this deposit. According to the narrative advanced by Rabat, King Hassan II purportedly accepted the demarcation of borders between Morocco and Algeria in exchange for a usufructuary right over the Gara Djebilet mine. Yet, the instruments duly signed and ratified by both States tell an entirely different story (2). This article will revisit that point in detail, with the aim of dismantling Moroccan propaganda designed for domestic consumption—propaganda intended to perpetuate the illusion of a return to a bygone grandeur… which, in truth, never existed. Before addressing Morocco’s assertions, let us first outline the Gara Djebilet mega-project: what does it entail? 1) The Gara Djebilet mega project in a nutshell: The Gara Djebilet mine, located in Algeria...

The announcement of the deployment of an Israeli industrial capability for drone manufacturing in Morocco marks a major turning point in the Maghreb’s military balance. This development raises a central question: how can Algeria respond to this technological upgrade by its western neighbor? Options do exist, and they fall within the framework of a Russo-Algerian military cooperation that continues to strengthen. A Changing Regional Context: The Drone Factor as a Power Multiplier Armed drones are no longer just a tactical tool: they have become a strategic instrument, capable of striking deep, saturating defenses, and reshaping operational doctrines. For Rabat, integrating Israeli know-how into local drone production paves the way for capacity autonomy and asymmetric projection in the latent conflict over Western Sahara. In response, Algiers could turn to Russia’s long-range drone sector, particularly systems like the “Geran-2” (known as Shahed-136 in Iran), whose effectiveness has b...

Ahmed Rissouni, former president of what is called “The International Union of Muslim Scholars” , returns once again to his favorite exercise: stoking discord, legitimizing confrontation, and distributing certificates of “national purity” according to the needs of the Moroccan palace. The man who once called for a “holy war” against Algeria and a “march on Tindouf” now appears under a new guise—but with an even more dangerous discourse, saturated with insinuations and falsehoods designed to inflame an entire region. In a lengthy article, he proclaims that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has been “definitively buried” by a decision of the UN Security Council—as if the United Nations had suddenly renounced the principle of self-determination. Rissouni forgets—or pretends to forget—that the UN has never recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, and that the conflict remains officially listed as a decolonization issue. This is not analysis; it is propaganda disguised as...

When Historical Ignorance Becomes a Geopolitical Weapon Tahar Ben Jelloun’s recent intervention in Le Figaro purports to offer a literary testimony; in reality, it is a discursive strategy meticulously aligned with the geopolitical imperatives of the makhzen . By exploiting the singular case of Boualem Sansal, Ben Jelloun claims to shed light on Algeria’s political history; yet what he truly reveals is this: the unwavering determination of the Moroccan literary lobby to instrumentalize memory and literature in order to weaken Algeria and serve the interests of the royal palace. This analysis is framed within a perspective that asserts Algeria’s national sovereignty—both historical and contemporary—and categorically rejects the Moroccan and Franco-colonial narratives that Ben Jelloun reproduces without nuance. 1. A Voice Undermined by Silence on Moroccan Repression Let us state the obvious: Tahar Ben Jelloun is not a neutral observer of the Maghreb. While Algeria stood alone again...