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Algeria has traditionally practiced an activist foreign policy and in the 1960s and 1970s was noted for its support of Third World policies and independence movements. Algerian diplomacy was instrumental in obtaining the release of U.S. hostages from Iran in 1980. Since his first election in 1999, President Bouteflika worked to restore Algeria's international reputation, traveling extensively throughout the world. In July 2001, he became the first Algerian President to visit the White House in 16 years. He has made official visits to France, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Germany, China, Japan, and Russia, among others, since his inauguration.
Algeria has taken the lead in working on issues related to the African Continent. Host of the OAU Conference in 2000, Algeria also was key in bringing Ethiopia and Eritrea to the peace table in 2000. It has worked closely with its African neighbors to establish the New African Partnership. Algeria has taken a lead in reviving the Union of the Arab Maghreb with its neighbors.
Since 1976, Algeria has supported the Polisario, a group claiming to represent the population of Western Sahara. Contending that Sahrawi have a right to self-determination under the UN Charter, Algeria has provided the Polisario with material, financial, and political support and sanctuary in southwestern Algeria around Tindouf. UN involvement in the Western Sahara includes MINURSO, a peacekeeping force, and UNHCR, for refugee assistance and resettlement. Active diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute under the auspices of the Special Representative of the Secretary General are ongoing. Although the land border between Morocco and Algeria was closed in the wake of a terrorist attack, the two have worked at improving relations, and in July 2004, Morocco lifted visa requirements for Algerians. Algeria has friendly relations with its other neighbors in the Mahgreb, Tunisia and Libya, and with its sub-Saharan neighbors, Mali and Niger. It closely monitors developments in the Middle East and has been a strong proponent of the rights of the Palestinian people, calling publicly for an end to violence in the Occupied Territories.
Algeria has diplomatic relations with more than 100 foreign countries, and over 90 countries maintain diplomatic representation in Algiers. Algeria holds a nonpermanent, rotating seat on the UN Security Council. Its tenure began January 2004 and ends December 2005.
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In July 2001, President Bouteflika became the first Algerian President to visit the White House since 1985. This visit, followed by a second meeting in November 2001, a meeting in New York in September 2003, and President Bouteflika’s participation at the June 2004 G8 Sea-Island Summit, is indicative of the growing relationship between the United States and Algeria. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, contacts in key areas of mutual concern, including law enforcement and counter-terrorism cooperation, have intensified. Algeria publicly condemned the terrorist attacks on the United States and has been strongly supportive of the international war against terrorism. The United States and Algeria consult closely on key international and regional issues. The pace and scope of senior-level visits has accelerated. In June 2003, Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman traveled to Algeria, followed by the October 2003 and May 2004 visits of Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, William Burns. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Algiers in December 2003.
In 2004, U.S. direct investment in Algeria totaled $4.1 billion, mostly in the petroleum sector, which U.S. companies dominate. American companies also are active in banking and finance, services, pharmaceuticals, medical facilities, telecommunications, aviation, and information technology sectors. Algeria is the United States' 10th-largest market in the Middle East/North African region. U.S. exports to Algeria totaled $487 million in 2003, a decrease of almost 50% over 2002. Imports nearly doubled over the same period, from $2.4 billion in 2002 to $4.7 billion in 2003. Algeria exports over $2.6 billion (2003) of petroleum products and LNG to the United States, primarily to New England. In March 2004, President Bush designated Algeria a beneficiary country for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
In July 2001, the United States and Algeria signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which establishes common principles on which the economic relationship is founded. On an ongoing basis the two governments meet to discuss trade and investment policies and opportunities to enhance the economic relationship. The Export-Import Bank has an active guarantee program in Algeria; current exposure is about $1.8 billion, primarily for petroleum projects and aircraft acquisition. Within the framework of the U.S.-North African Economic Partnership (USNAEP), the United States provided about $1.0 million in technical assistance to Algeria in 2003. This program supports and encourages Algeria's economic reform program and includes support for World Trade Organization accession negotiations, debt management, and improving the investment climate. In 2003, USNAEP programs were rolled over into Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) activities. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided Algeria with a GSM 102 program valued at $50 million for the purchase of U.S. agricultural products.
The United States has a small, but growing ($550,000 per year) International Military Education and Training (IMET) Program for training Algerian military personnel in the United States. Algeria received $200,000 in 2004 to participate in the Department of Defense’s Regional Country Terror Fellowship Program. Contacts between the Algerian and U.S. militaries have accelerated in the past several years: Algeria has hosted U.S. naval ship visits and has begun a series of joint naval exercises. Staff exchanges between the two sides are frequent and Algeria has hosted senior U.S. military officials.
The United States has implemented modest university linkages programs and has placed two English Language Fellows, the first since 1993, with the Ministry of Education to assist in the development of ESL courses at the Ben Aknoune Training Center. In 2004, Algeria was again the recipient of a grant under the Ambassadors' Fund for Cultural Preservation. That fund provided a grant of $39,000 to restore the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba. Algeria also received an $80,000 grant to fund microscholarships to design and implement an American English-language program for Algerian high school students in four major cities.
Initial funding through the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) has been allocated to support the work of Algeria's developing civil society through programming that provides training to journalists, businesspersons, and the heads of leading nongovernmental organizations. Additional funding through the State Department's Human Rights and Democracy Fund will assist civil society groups focusing on the issues of the disappeared, and Islam and democracy.
The official U.S. presence in Algeria remains limited, due in large part to reductions in staff during the mid-1990s in response to a deteriorating security environment. During the past 2 years, the embassy has moved toward more normal operations and now provides most embassy services to the American and Algerian communities.
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