Kerry Visits Algeria for Second Strateic Dialogue
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made his first trip to Algeria as Secretary on Thursday, where he met with Algerian officials and the co-chair of the U.S.-Algeria Strategic Dialogue, Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra. During the visit, both the United States and Algeria reiterated their commitment to stronger bilateral ties, including pledges to cooperate on counterterrorism measures in a region that has seen a rise in terrorist activities in the past few years.
In his opening remarks to the Plenary Sessions of the U.S.-Algeria Strategic Dialogue, Secretary Kerry touched on the long history of relations between Algeria and the United States before expanding on the three areas of mutual interest: security cooperation, economic and civil society engagement, and political cooperation.
Secretary Kerry tied the economic and security issues together, suggesting Africa and the Middle East’s youth bulge is a potential recruiting pool for terrorist groups should economic prospects not improve: “The median age of Algeria is 27 years old. So we need to make sure that we can find jobs for these people, that their future is defined through education and opportunity, and not through IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and violence.” Secretary Kerry continued to draw a contrast between the kind of future a prosperous Algeria can create for its citizens and the kind of future terrorism offers, saying, “[t]hose who offer the violence that comes with terrorism . . . don’t offer jobs. They don’t offer education. They don’t offer healthcare. They don’t have a program to pull the country together around its common identity. They destroy it. . . . And so it is absolutely vital in this Strategic Dialogue that we work to find common ground.”
The U.S.-Algeria Strategic Dialogue was established in October 2012 after a similar Strategic Dialogue was created with Morocco. The Strategic Dialogue aims to encourage a closer relationship between Algeria and the U.S. and between Algeria and its neighbors in an effort to address regional concerns such as drug and arms trafficking and economic stagnation. Vish Sakthivel, the Next Generation Fellow at The Washington Institute, wrote that “Morocco and Algeria hold strategic importance for the United States largely thanks to their ability to stem the growing influence of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).” Sakthivel continued to write that the strategic dialogues were meant to show both countries that the U.S. was interested not just in their cooperation on regional crisis management, but also in their long-term future. Therefore, an emphasis on economic, as well as security matters, was seen to be central to the development of stronger bilateral relations.
While Sakthivel, suggested “the diversification of Algeria's economy” would be a central topic during the visit, the security issue also featured prominently. Secretary Kerry said that the “United States will absolutely continue to stand with Algeria to fight the scourge of terrorism... And we will continue to work with youth through the Global Counterterrorism Forum in order to combat drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, both of which fund terrorism in North and West Africa. We will look to increase our security assistance to Algeria.” A joint communiqué following Kerry’s meetings also stated, “both sides agreed to increase training and to expand opportunities for commercial and military sales, including improvement of border controls to quickly facilitate legal trade, while preventing trafficking of persons and goods.” Secretary Kerry also thanked Algeria for its “efforts in Mali and Niger which underscore Algeria’s constructive role in regional stability.”
According to Security Assistance Monitor, Algeria received slightly over $3 million in security assistance funding from different anti-terrorism accounts such as the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program as well as the non-proliferation, anti-terrorism, demining and related programs account. Algeria is also a member of the Trans Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, the United States’ main counterterrorism initiative in North Africa and the Sahel.