Algeria’s Diplomatic Missteps: Former Minister Warns of Costly Sahara Gamble

According to Noureddine Boukrouh, the country is now paying the price for a series of strategic misjudgments accumulated over the decades. He points to a management that has lacked foresight in the face of geopolitical developments, an overestimation of Algerian influence on the world stage, and an underestimation of the determination of its adversaries. This trajectory has led Algeria to a worrying isolation, both vis-à-vis its immediate neighbors and its Arab and European partners, placing it in a position he considers the most perilous since its independence.

The financial cost of this unwavering support for the Sahrawi cause is also at the heart of his criticism. The former political leader mentions a colossal bill, estimated at no less than fifty billion dollars over half a century, for a cause he now considers doomed. A situation he claimed to have denounced decades ago. In 1998, he wrote in a striking formula: "In the Western Sahara, to take just this example, Morocco has surpassed us: it has obtained the prey, and we have obtained the shadow. And we add that the shadow has cost us more than the prey..."

This bitter observation extends to another historical pillar of Algerian diplomacy: the Palestinian cause. Noureddine Boukrouh notes with concern that this cause, although benefiting from widespread international support, is facing insurmountable obstacles and risks losing the gains of decades of struggle. This parallel reinforces his sense of a strategic impasse for Algeria, which has tied its destiny to causes that now seem to be bogging down.

The analysis becomes even darker with the mention of recent developments in the energy market. The conclusion of a gas agreement between the European Union and the United States is perceived as a direct threat to Algeria’s market share, illustrating a loss of influence even in its strategic sectors. Faced with this accumulation of setbacks, the question posed by the former minister remains unanswered: what room for maneuver is left for Algeria to avoid a scenario that could, in his words, make it lose "money, dignity and life"?