Afrasiant - Zakaria shahin - The United States does not always hide its tendency to hegemony and expansion, but that does not go according to what it wants, especially if the intended country for American targeting is the size of Algeria, which adopts a stable strategy in dealing with various regional and international issues.

 

 

In recent times and for several months, the visits of United States officials to Algeria have increased recently, the most recent of which was the visit of US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who met with the country's President Abdel Majid Tebboune and the Chief of Staff of the Army Lieutenant General Said Chengriha.

 

 

These visits raised several questions about what the United States wants from Algeria, especially after more than 15 years have passed since the visit of Donald Rumsfeld, the last high-ranking American official to visit Algeria, and with Esper's statement and wishing that his visit would be a reason to strengthen the Algerian-American partnership and friendship.

 

 

The least that can be said is that the United States of America aims to expand its influence in the region Esper's visit included three Maghreb countries, as he was a guest in each of the capitals of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, and met with senior officials in them, to reflect his country's ambition to expand influence there, after a long absence from the African arena, as the American focus was on the Middle East region, especially The Arab Gulf and the vicinity of Israel, and this desire was clear in the US Secretary's statement to confront Chinese and Russian influence, so he made a statement after meeting with officials in Tunisia that instability in the region is exacerbated by the malicious activities of China and Russia in the African continent.

 

 

It is possible to include the American moves within the new Cold War, which flared up a trade between the United States and China, after the Asian giant set its feet on the continent with confidence, through huge investment and economic projects and a large trade exchange with African countries, all of which corresponds to very distinguished Russian relations.

 

 

With Africa, specifically with the Arab North African countries, and the dependence of many African countries on Russian equipment to arm their armies, led by Algeria, which is Russia's largest partner in the African continent, and all of this culminated in the African-Russian summit last year in the resort of Sochi, in the presence of many leaders and officials Africans.

 

 

These allegations are confirmed by the "Washington Post" newspaper, which says that US officials are concerned about the expansion of Russia and China’s activities in Africa, after they shifted their focus to confronting their growing danger, especially after the Pentagon’s intention to reduce their forces in Africa, as part of the force modification associated with this shift.

 

 

All this may push the United States to play a more powerful role on the African arena, trying to consolidate its role as a world leader, even if the end of the unipolar system looms on the horizon and the emergence of new powers on the international scene. According to the magazine "Armsky Standard", Algeria bought weapons worth 13.5 billion dollars from Moscow between 2006 and 2018, to be the largest supplier of Russian weapons in the African continent, in addition to many deals with neighboring countries and in various parts of the continent, which makes saliva. American leaders are seeking to capture the African market in armaments.

 

 

The spokesman for the US Africa Command, Colonel Chris Karnes, expresses his resentment over the Russian arms deals there, and being the largest supplier of weapons in the region, and admits that US officials are trying to prove that their superior American weapons and training will be more useful to them, even if it will be supplied with more conditions such as monitoring use. Final or human rights rules.

 

 

This was translated by the US Secretary of Defense in his talks with the Algerian President Abdel Majid Tebboune, and his support for expanding military and security relations between the two countries, and working hand in hand to develop and strengthen what he described as strong and long relations, and expressed his confidence in the possibility of joint action between the two parties.

 

 

Algeria is one of the most prominent military powers in North Africa, with an army of 130,000 soldiers, and it ranks second in the ranking of the continent’s armies after the Egyptian army. Algeria also links a long border with two of the hottest outposts in Africa currently, as it connects it with a long and desert border with Libya, which The African country has witnessed bloody conflict in recent years, as well as the borders with Mali, with its recent military coup and terrorist groups active in it.

 

 

The geographical location of Algeria makes it a major player in these files, more than the strength of Algeria, its good relations with the various parties in Africa, and the constitutional amendment that allows the participation of the army in missions outside the borders may activate the regional role of Algeria, which makes relations with Algeria an important gain for any party. He wants to play a pivotal role in the conflicts that occur on the African continent, even if this participation is related to work under the umbrella of the United Nations, and to obtain the approval of two-thirds of the members of Parliament, as explained by the Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Algeria has gained great experience in combating terrorism, which it has suffered for a long time, and with the terrorist threats from the African continent, American officials see the need for cooperation in this field, especially since they have been raising the slogan of fighting terrorism for nearly twenty years.

 

 

Algeria affirms that it "defeated terrorism alone and without assistance from any foreign party," due to "the determination and determination of its armed forces and the close cooperation between the various security wires, as well as the high convictions of the citizens."

When the commander of AFRICOM visited Algeria, the first of its kind since Tebboune assumed the presidency, the last visit was in April 2018, by the former commander of US forces in Africa, General Thomas Woldhauser. At the time, local media reports revealed that Algeria "had expressed reservations about the request to engage its army in the war on terror outside its borders, specifically in the Sahel region."

 

 

The Algerian President Abdel Majid Tebboune also renewed his country's rejection of any foreign interference in Libya, calling for the necessity of foreign mercenaries to leave the Libyan lands.

 

 

During his speech at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tebboune confirmed that Algeria worked to bring the parties in Libya together and bring them together in negotiations on a political process. The Algerian president said, "Our foreign policy is based on respecting the sovereignty of states and not interfering in their affairs," calling for the necessity of all foreign mercenaries to leave the Libyan lands.

 

 

On the situation in Mali, Tebboune said: "We are closely following the delicate situation in Mali and we are looking forward to a speedy return to constitutional order." With regard to the internal situation in his country, the Algerian president renewed his country's commitment to fighting terrorism and extremism as a threat to security and development in the world. He added, "We are close to finalizing a national framework to measure progress in achieving the sustainable development goals." Tebboune emphasized that Algeria is moving steadily towards consolidating the foundations of democracy and dedicating the building of the rule of law and social justice.

 

 

All these matters do not appeal to the American side, which believes that Algeria should be a follower, not a liberal one, and adhere to the stability of its internal and external stances and policies.

 

 

Therefore, America quickly resorted to trying to involve Algeria in the issue of human rights violations through what it claims to be a specialized international organization, while it is a tool in the hands of Washington.

 

 

In any case, according to observers, the United States, based on the changes Algeria is witnessing at the legislative level (the constitution), hopes to reach a consensus on the security roles of Algeria in its regional environment, especially in the countries that were the subject of discussions between President Tebboune and the US Secretary of Defense , Such as Libya, Mali and the Sahel region. The United States ’endeavor to strengthen military cooperation with Algeria in North Africa and the Sahel region came after France’s failure, and behind it the Europeans, to control security in the country of Mali and its neighbors, despite the military force that Paris had been involved in in this country since 2013, which started Operation Serval. And it ended with “Barkhane”, and it has not reached a conclusion so far.

 

 

The preparations for Esper's visit were made by the visit of the commander of the American military force in Africa (AFRICOM), General Stephen Townsend, a force of about 800 soldiers, and he discussed with senior Algerian officials, and his visit culminated with a phrase in which he said that Washington “trusts Algeria as a committed partner in fighting terrorism. “.

 

 

Washington also attaches great importance to the situation in Libya, as it is in contact with the activities of (AFRICOM). However, America believes that Russia has preceded it by strengthening its presence in the region, which embarrassed the administration of former President Donald Trump, who recently woke up while trying to catch up with what he missed, through Work to take advantage of Algeria's status as a country that has good relations with all political and tribal parties in the eastern neighbor. And through the occasional enticement and publicizing what is falsely called the issue of human rights.