Algeria: An Improbable Way Out the Crisis? Paris : 2002, 112 p. - (Notes de l'Ifri, n° 37)
Ten years after the interruption of the electoral process (January 1992) that plunged the country into civil war, is Algeria anywhere close to bringing an end to this crisis?
The texts published in this 'Note' are not very optimistic. The 'Civil concord' project seems to have failed. Elected on the basis of a peace process program, President Bouteflika has failed to both change the army's attitude and to implement his program.
But how does one restore Presidential authority without confronting the military leaders who put Bouteflika into power? Between the army that wants to maintain its privileges, and a President who believes in his personal destiny, the population does not see any prospect of better living conditions.
One can even wonder if the army, that has been exerting political power since independance, is not the only force of change in the country, and its main hope on the way to democracy.
Original French title: Algérie: une improbable sortie de crise ?