Laboratories in Paris are unable to understand France's helplessness against Algeria.

El Chorouk

2 days ago

The French are still searching by all means for what they consider 'the reasons for helplessness against Algeria' in the current iron grip, and for that, they resort each time to interrogating politicians, historians, and specialists in political sociology, hoping to reach the recipe that will enable them to regain lost influence in their former colony, which has begun to deal with them with an unprecedented equal footing.
The latest to be interrogated in this context was the well-known French sociologist, Gilles Kepel, who was a guest on the 'Le Figaro Live' platform, to answer the central question: 'Why is France unable to confront Algeria?', a question that has been strongly raised for more than ten months, which marks the age of the escalating and unprecedented crisis between the two countries.
Gilles Kepel, who is a professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, and also holds the Chair of the Middle East and the Mediterranean at the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, linked what has been happening between the two sides of the Mediterranean in recent months to some variables that have accumulated since Algeria gained its independence in the early 1960s.
According to the French sociologist, the first factor that increased the strength and rigidity of the Algerian position is that this country, Kepel says, enjoys economic independence derived from the large wealth and resources that Algeria possesses, foremost among them oil and gas wealth, which provided financial resources that enabled the Algerian state to eliminate dependence on foreign countries in the field of financing and to establish the necessary infrastructure that the state needs.
As for the second dimension, it is represented by the Algerian community, which numbers millions in the former colony, and this is a card that plays in Algeria's favor in any conflict between the two countries. Moreover, the diversity of this community and its penetration into various aspects of activity in French society makes it influential.
He pointed here to the arrival of an immigrant's son of Algerian origin to the government, where he currently holds the portfolios of Interior and Justice, referring to Gérald Moussa Darmanin, in addition to the presence of influential businessmen and intellectuals of Algerian origin in French society.
The professor at the 'London Ideas' Center for Diplomacy and Strategy at the London School of Economics and Political Science also believes that what he considers 'Algerian hostile policy towards France may have a negative impact on a segment of the French people,' and he refers here to the children of the Algerian community who may, of course, follow the interests of their country, according to his view, which is a natural thing that can happen in any country that hosts a large foreign community.
With some precision, Gilles Kepel refers to the disturbances and incidents that some French prisons were subjected to, and the targeting of some agents working in prison services, in the previous weeks, when the tension between the two countries was at its highest levels, and he tried to link that to the iron grip adopted by the French government towards Algeria and its community.
The French sociologist did not hide his fears of the pressure usually exerted by some lobbies (pressure groups) affiliated with Algeria in France.
The French remain perplexed in dealing with Algeria in light of the current crisis, the repercussions of which have confused decision-makers in Paris, so that, after nearly a year of the escalating crisis, they are still unable to get out of this quagmire they fell into, ever since French President Emmanuel Macron decided to blatantly side with the Moroccan regime in the Western Sahara issue, despite his awareness of the seriousness of that position on French interests in Algeria.