Gov 365N/MES 323K
Questions for Class 16: April 1
1. The Hamrouche reforms 1989-1991. Was it possible for Algeria simultaneously to engage in democratization and economic reform? More generally, why are these transitions so difficult for bunker regimes?
2. On the other side of this question, after 1993, was economic stabilization possible without political violence? And why was there so much violence in Algeria 1992-98, when by President Boutiflika's count, over a million Algerians died? Comparisons and contrasts with the national liberation struggle of 1954-62. (Here is a current account of the principal surviving terrorist organization, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3027621.stm ) But, if you are interested, try Jeremey Keenan, "Waging War on Terror: The Implications of America's 'New Imperialism' for Saharan Peoples," Journal of North African Studies, 10: 3-4 (Sept- Dec 2005), pp. 619-648, for an expose of this fake war in the Sahara, which gives Algeria an excuse to retain its bunkers and America some space with an Algerian ally for controlling African oil flows.
3. The problem of corruption: military clans and mafias. Compare the situation described by Boumediene's economic czar, Belaid Abdesselam, in the 1970s with the post 1994 situation, when foreign trade was "liberalized."
4. Algeria's phantom private sector: the story of Khalifa Airlines and Khalifa Bank.