home > by publication type > daily analysis > North Africa’s Rising Radicals
Email
| Prepared by: | Eben Kaplan |
|---|
Residents of Algiers examine the wreckage of a car destroyed in the bomb explosion near the Prime Minister's office. (AP/Ouahab Hebbat)
On April 11, simultaneous suicide bombings (CNN) in Algiers killed thirty-three people and injured hundreds, while ripping the facade off the prime minister’s office building. Before and after the Algiers bombings, a series of smaller suicide attacks (IHT) rattled Casablanca, the commercial hub of neighboring Morocco, prompting the United States to close its consulate there. The recent attacks raise fears that a new front is emerging in the global jihad.
It doesn’t help allay concerns that the group behind the Algiers attacks, whose emergence is examined in this Backgrounder, recently pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda, changing its name to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. CFR Fellow Steven A. Cook says the Algiers bombings marks “a major escalation,” and the Power and Interest News Report, an independent conflict analysis organization, suggests the attacks are part of a new strategy aimed at boosting the group’s profile. A letter to the Algerian president, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, also expressed the desire to “transform Algeria into a second Iraq” (Reuters). But the Economist expresses some skepticism, questioning whether this is all “just propaganda to revive the flagging spirits of North African insurgents.”
Western officials have expressed concern (LAT) that the plotters could soon set Europe or the United States in their sights. Antoine Basbous, director of the Observatory of Arab Countries, tells the Associated Press, “There is a new force at the gates of Europe.”
The emerging terrorist threat poses a challenge for the authoritarian governments of Algeria and Morocco. Arezki Daoud, editor of the North Africa Journal, warns of several groups across the region that may unite under “al-Qaeda’s spiritual guidance.” Experts say these nations must find a way to clamp down (CSMonitor) on the terrorists without radicalizing more of their citizens or isolating moderate Muslims. The New York Times examines efforts to do this amid rising tensions between North Africa’s secular regimes and its growing religious populations. In Algeria, the response so far has been largely military (Jamestown). A forthcoming book from Steven Cook examines the role of the military in such political systems.
This rising radicalism, according to Lebanon’s Dar Al-Hayat, can be linked to deplorable socioeconomic conditions which have given rise to large, disaffected youth populations. This notion is dismissed by Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, director general of Al-Arabiya TV, who says extremism, not poverty, spawned the attacks (MEMRI). A number of North Africans have also reacted strongly against the violence: Moroccan bloggers roundly condemned (Global Voices) the recent bombings in Casablanca, as did (AP) the imam of the Grand Mosque of Algiers.
Notably spared from attacks so far is Libya. Long the loosest of North African cannons, the Libyan regime was recently removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. When Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte visits Tripoli this week, it will be the highest-level diplomatic contact in half a century. But this warming of relations should not be mistaken for total reconciliation: Eight senators sent Negroponte a letter last week urging him “to send a strong message” (PDF) to President Muammar Qaddafi, that the United States is disappointed in Libya’s failure to settle its remaining terrorism claims lodged by U.S. victims.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
To request permission to reprint or reuse CFR material, please fill out this permissions request form (PDF), referring to the instructions on page 1.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.