Throughout the Cold War, Africa was a theatre for superpower rivalry. That the U.S and the Soviet Union used countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to their own advantage is well-known. Sub-Saharan countries also exploited Cold War hostilities in turn. But what role did countries in North Africa play?This book offers an international history of U.S-Algerian relations at the height of the Cold War. The Algerian president, Houari Boumediene, actively adjusted Algeria's foreign policy to promote the country's national development, pursuing its own commitment to non-alignment and 'Third World' leadership. Algeria's foreign policy was directly opposed to that of the U.S on major issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict and Western Sahara conflict and the Algerian government was avowedly socialist. Yet, as this book outlines, Algeria was able to negotiate a position for itself between the U.S and the Soviet bloc, winning support from both and becoming a key actor in international affairs. Based on materials from recently opened archives, this book sheds new light on the importance of Boumediene's era in Algeria and will be an essential resource for historians and political scientists alike.

An illuminating and provocative account of Germany's role as sanctuary for Algerian nationalists during their fight for independence from France between 1954 and 1962. The book explores key issues such as the impact of external sanctuaries on French counterinsurgency efforts; the part played by security and intelligence services in efforts to eliminate these sanctuaries; the Algerian War's influence on West German foreign and security policy; and finally, the emergence of West German civic engagement in support of Algeria's independence struggle, which served to shape the newly independent country's perception of its role and place in international society. Mathilde Von Bulow sheds new light on the impact of FLN activities, the role of anti-colonial movements and insurgencies in the developing world in shaping the dynamics of the Cold War, as well as the manner in which the Algerian War was fought and won.

Algeria sits at the crossroads of the Atlantic, European, Arab, and African worlds. Yet, unlike the wars in Korea and Vietnam, Algeria's fight for independence has rarely been viewed as an international conflict. Even forty years later, it is remembered as the scene of a national drama that culminated with Charles de Gaulle's decision to "grant" Algerians their independence despite assassination attempts, mutinies, and settler insurrection. Yet, as Matthew Connelly demonstrates, the war the Algerians fought occupied a world stage, one in which the U.S. and the USSR, Israel and Egypt, Great Britain, Germany, and China all played key roles. Recognizing the futility of confronting France in a purely military struggle, the Front de Libération Nationale instead sought to exploit the Cold War competition and regional rivalries, the spread of mass communications and emigrant communities, and the proliferation of international and non-governmental organizations. By harnessing the forces of nascent globalization they divided France internally and isolated it from the world community. And, by winning rights and recognition as Algeria's legitimate rulers without actually liberating the national territory, they rewrote the rules of international relations. Based on research spanning three continents and including, for the first time, the rebels' own archives, this study offers a landmark reevaluation of one of the great anti-colonial struggles as well as a model of the new international history. It will appeal to historians of post-colonial studies, twentieth-century diplomacy, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. A Diplomatic Revolution was winner of the 2003 Stuart L. Bernath Prize of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and the Akira Iriye International History Book Award, The Foundation for Pacific Quest.

Through an examination of Algeria's interactions with the wider world from the beginning of its war of independence to the fall of its first post-colonial regime, Mecca of Revolution provides the Third Worldist perspective on twentieth century international history. Featuring pioneering research on multiple continents, it rejuvenates the fields of diplomatic history and post-colonial studies.

“This book is an incredibly clear presentation of why the Algerian War mattered, what happened, the key contexts which produced this conflict and those that shaped it, as well as offering a brilliant entry point to teach or demonstrate how historiography works, how historians do history.”- Todd Shepard, Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor of History, John Hopkins University, USA “This is a fantastic book which fills an important gap in the historical scholarship. Natalya Vince has managed the seemingly impossible task of presenting a nuanced history of the Algerian War / Algerian Revolution in clear, concise terms.” - Sarah Frank, Associate Lecturer of History, St Andrews University, UK "This brilliant and beautifully written book achieves the seemingly impossible task of offering a lucid and nuanced guide to the massive body of historical writing on the Algerian war. The book will immediately become essential and indispensable reading not only for students at all levels but also for teachers and historians."- Julian Jackson, Professor of Modern French History, Queen Mary University of London, UK This book provides a new analysis of the contested history of one of the most violent wars of decolonisation of the twentieth century – the Algerian War/ the Algerian Revolution between 1954 and 1962. It brings together an engaging account of its origins, course and legacies with an incisive examination of how interpretations of the conflict have shifted and why it continues to provoke intense debate. Locating the war in a century-long timeframe stretching from 1914 to the present, it multiplies the perspectives from which events can be seen. The pronouncements of politicians are explored alongside the testimony of rural women who provided logistical support for guerrillas in the National Liberation Front. The broader context of decolonisation and the Cold War is considered alongside the experiences of colonised men serving in the French army. Unpacking the historiography of the end of a colonial empire, the rise of anti-colonial nationalism and their post-colonial aftermaths, it provides an accessible insight into how history is written.

Algeria is a nation at war with itself. Civil strife has engulfed the country since early 1992, when a secular military government called off a national election after its Islamic opponents won the first round. Since then the militant Islamic opposition has employed suicide bombings, assassinations and death threats to make the country ungovernable. The most secularized of nations in the region, Algeria would not seem to have been the most vulnerable to disorder involving Muslim fundamentalists and Islamists. However, as in other postcolonial societies, the lack of democracy since independence has nurtured the growth of religious populism as the only available form of political resistance to corrupt government authority. Algeria: The Fundamentalist Challenge lucidly untangles the roots of this conflict in the colonial era and after, and examines it in the context of local, regional and international politics. It is written for students and other readers who need a clear introduction to one of the more significant struggles of our era.

Thoroughly sharp and honest treatment of a brutal conflict.The Algerian War (1954-1962) was a savage colonial war, killing an estimated one million Muslim Algerians and expelling the same number of European settlers from their homes. It was to cause the fall of six French prime minsters and the collapse of the Fourth Repbulic. It came close to bringing down de Gaulle and - twice - to plunging France into civil war.The story told here contains heroism and tragedy, and poses issues of enduring relevance beyond the confines of either geography or time. Horne writes with the extreme intelligence and perspicacity that are his trademarks.