ABSTRACT

More than in any other country in North Africa, the military has played a leading political role in Algeria. Civil-military relations are essential to an understanding of the political evolution of Algeria and should not be considered in isolation of the broader historical context, since independence in 1962. At no time have Algerian officers assumed political power as military personnel. They have either allied themselves with civilian figures, or swapped uniforms for civilian clothes at the very moment they entered political office. The political history of independent Algeria is one of a balancing act of solidarity and competition among three centers of power: the presidency, military command and intelligence services. At no point, however, has the competition among these centers of power resulted in one undermining the others; they share an organic solidarity vis-à-vis the political class and civil society. But this solidarity does not mean systematic consensus, hence the perpetual balancing act that, according to circumstances, marginalizes a particular center. Thus both stability as well as deadlocks in contemporary Algeria stem precisely from this dynamic.