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| Volume XIV, Winter 2007, Number 4 |
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ABSTRACT
U.S. Policy Towards North Africa: Three Overarching Themes
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| Christopher Hemmer |
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Dr. Hemmer is an associate professor of International Security Studies at the Air War College. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Air War College or any other U.S. government department or agency.
Until quite recently, given the diversity of North Africa, it would have been difficult to talk in a coherent manner about U.S. policy towards the region as a whole. In Morocco, Washington was dealing with a monarchy with longstanding ties to the United States. Algeria, by contrast, has had troubled political (although surprisingly close economic) relations with the United States since its independence and in the 1990s was in the grips of a bloody civil war. Tunisia, like Morocco, has had close political ties with the United States, but its small size and its republican, but still authoritarian, political system presented distinctive political challenges. Libya was treated as a rogue state. As a result, the United States had policies towards the states of North Africa, but not a policy towards North Africa.
Recent years, however, have seen a greater convergence with regard to U.S. policies in North Africa. With most of the states in the region talking about political reform, the end of the civil war in Algeria, and Libya's decisions to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction program and sever its ties to international terrorist groups, it is now possible to talk coherently about U.S. policy towards the region as a whole. While many differences among the states of North Africa certainly remain, the important ones have significantly shrunk from the standpoint of American foreign policy.
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