قوة إقليمية معطلة: سياسة خارجية جزائرية كلاسيكية في عالم متغير – تأملات نقدية في ضوء مقاربة القوة الناعمة

Abstract

This paper aims to reconceive the traditional-based logic which the Algerian foreign policy tends to adopt since independence to date. This traditional logic is centered on the hard power foundations and tools, which makes this policy blind-alley with poor and even limited influence within a rapidly changing world in terms of concepts, tools, and nature of relations. This paper then aims to draw attention to the existence of other untapped sources of power for Algeria to exploit, apart from the power of its force of arms, oil, and the tools of its official classical diplomacy. For that, activating and investing in these untapped soft powers in the country's foreign policy will strengthen Algeria's position internationally, expand its foreign spheres of influence, and consolidate its "benign regional hegemony" in Africa and the Western Mediterranean region at a lower cost. We are referring here to the resources of the untapped and inoperative soft power which the lack of investment in an appropriate way has resulted in making Algeria a "broken country" geopolitically, or let’s label it "The Broken Grossraum" – quoting the German political theorist Carl Schmitt – in North Africa and Western Mediterranean region. This paper first identifies the meaning of soft power, its resources, and its contemporary importance in countries' foreign policy. Then, drawing upon an analysis of the Algerian foreign policy and its main principles since independence, the paper indicates Algeria's potential soft power resources, which are still untapped and unexploited to date. Finally, the paper argue for a set of conditions to unlock the untapped soft powers in the country's foreign and security policy and foster the Algerian's effective regional leadership in North Africa and Western Mediterranean region