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1 [1] (July 24, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveqdp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressiona R Fesearch Service infor ingi the eg stvedebate aee1914 Updated July 24, 2024 Algeria Successive U.S. Administrations have sought to improve ties with Algeria, an energy exporter with one of Africa's largest militaries. Algeria is a top purchaser of Russian arms and a top source of natural gas for Western Europe. Algeria is also on the UN Security Council in 2024-2025, further elevating its importance for U.S. policymakers. Algeria's energy sector has attracted interest from U.S. firms, albeit constrained by a challenging business climate. Algeria's long-standing skepticism of Western powers is rooted in its brutal war of independence from France (1954- 1962). U.S. policy leverage is further limited by Algeria's economic self-reliance and warm relations with China and Russia, and by the United States' close ties to regional rival Morocco. Algerian officials have welcomed increased U.S. outreach and expressed an interest in diversifying the country's partnerships, but stark policy differences endure over Ukraine, the Gaza war, and other issues. PoLtics Algeria's political system is defined by a strong presidency and security apparatus. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, 78, appears to face few viable rivals as he seeks a second term in elections slated for September 7, 2024. Tebboune was first elected in 2019, after long-standing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down in the face of an unprecedented national protest movement. Turnout in the 2019 election was low at 40%, and some observers initially characterized Tebboune, a former prime minister, as a relatively weak figure backed by the senior military command. Tebboune appears to have since consolidated power, with the help of strong energy export revenues. Pledging a new Algeria, President Tebboune has pursued anticorruption prosecutions of Bouteflika-era officials and business leaders, restructured the powerful intelligence services, and advanced further protectionist measures within Algeria's state-centric economy. Tebboune has also overseen a broad crackdown on civil society activists, opposition parties, and the once freewheeling press. After pandemic-related lockdowns, the government has effectively quashed what remained of the 2019 protest movement, some of whose participants assailed Tebboune as representing continuity in Algeria's ruling system. Amnesty International reported that over 200 Algerians were in jail as of late 2023 due to a relentless crackdown on citizens for expressing any form of dissent. A political independent, President Tebboune is supported by the National Liberation Front (FLN), the former independence movement and once the sole legal party. The FLN remains the largest party in parliament, but lost seats in elections in 2021 and 2017. The bicameral legislature rarely serves as a check on the executive, and voter turnout in 2021 was historically low at 23%. A new constitution adopted by referendum in 2020 did not significantly alter the government's structure or balance of power. Figure I. Algeria at a Glance Source: CIA World Factbook, IMF; 2024 estimates unless noted. The opposition is diverse and divided, comprising leftist, Islamist, Amazigh (Berber), and regionally anchored parties. After the FLN, the largest parties in parliament are the pro-military National Rally for Democracy (RND) and the Islamist Movement of Society for Peace (MSP). The RND has backed Tebboune's reelection bid, while the MSP has nominated a candidate to challenge him, as has the country's oldest opposition party, the Amazigh-led Front of Socialist Forces (FFS). The Islamic Salvation Front, whose electoral gains in 1991 sparked a military coup and subsequent decade-long civil conflict, remains banned. Up to 200,000 people died in the 1990s conflict, known in Algeria as the black decade. Religiously conservative Salafist social movements that eschew formal political competition have grown in prominence since the 2000s. The Economy and Energy Sector Algeria was the world's seventh-largest natural gas exporter in 2023 and has the 12th-largest proven natural gas reserves. Algeria also produces and exports oil, and is thought to have the world's third-largest untapped shale gas resources and significant renewable energy potential. The oil and gas sector accounts for about one-fifth of Algeria's GDP, over 90% of its exports, and nearly 40% of state revenues. Most of Algeria's gas exports go to Europe, by ship and pipeline. Algeria is the top gas supplier for Italy and Spain, and Europe's second-largest supplier of liquified natural gas by pipeline. Friction with Morocco led Algeria in 2021 to suspend gas exports to Spain via the Maghreb-Europe Gas (MEG) pipeline, which transits Morocco; two other pipelines directly connect Algeria to Spain and Italy. State-owned enterprises reportedly comprise more than half of Algeria's formal economy, led by the national oil and gas firm, Sonatrach. The State Department reports that a difficult business climate, an inconsistent regulatory environment, and sometimes contradictory government

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