Algeria: What Went Wrong And Why

• Published in: Middle East News Online
• Main Author: Abdelaziz Testas for Middle East News Online
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Durham Middle East News Online 15.04.2001

To get a sense of what went wrong, consider the gap in GDP per capita between Algeria and South Korea. In 1972, the average income level of an Algerian was US$430 compared with US$390 for a South Korean. In 1978, this gap was as follows: For Algeria the GDP per capita was US$1400 compared with US$1200 for South Korea. Algeria's GDP per capita was about 3.3 times higher in 1978 than it was in 1972 while that of South Korea was roughly 3.1 times higher for the same period. In very broad terms, it can be argued that the scale of economic development was larger in Algeria. Algeria's high achievements in the 1970s were not maintained under the Bendjedid government in the 1980s. To see this, consider once again the income gap between Algeria and South Korea. In 1988, Algeria's GDP per capita was 30 per cent lower than that of South Korea, while in 1992 this was almost 80 per cent lower. Had Algeria kept its pace of economic development of the 1970s, the average income of an ordinary Algerian would have been at least US$6800 by the end of 1992. Given the above analysis, it seems safe to conclude that the 1988 riots and the civil conflict that followed in 1992 must have been directly related to Algeria's economic downturn; religion was only a secondary factor in the crisis. The explanation that the economic situation is the primary cause for the current political turmoil will not be easily accepted for that religious explanations are more attractive. First, if you try to prove that Algeria's main problems are fundamentally economic and that religion-related issues only played a magnifying role, then you are very likely to offend those who subscribe to the doctrine of the clash of civilisation. This is an idea that is being promoted by some conspiracy theorists hostile to Islam as one of the greatest religions. The most recent plot is to depict Islam as a threat to world peace using such examples as Algeria. Proving that Algeria's problems may have little to do with the peaceful (true) Islam would tend to discredit such a plot; and this is what the conspiracy theorists hate to hear the most. The end of the Cold War has created some sort of vacuum and increasing anti-Muslim sentiments is now being regarded as a good replacement.