Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Lebanese Ministry of Health: Two people, including a soldier, were injured in an Israeli airstrike near the town of Beit Yahoun, Bint Jbeil District, in South Lebanon
Araghchi: Iran is committed to diplomacy and expects the lifting of unjust and unilateral sanctions that directly target its people
Araghchi: We want a fair and balanced agreement reached within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty with full respect for Iran's nuclear rights
Araghchi: Iran has always sought to alleviate legitimate international concerns about its nuclear program through transparency
Araghchi: Iran is committed to the principle of not producing or deploying weapons of mass destruction
Araghchi: Iran is committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has never sought to possess nuclear weapons based on its principles
Araghchi: Iran has always emphasized that it does not seek nuclear weapons, and we call for a fair and just agreement that guarantees our national interests and lifts sanctions
Araghchi: We call for a referendum in Palestine so that the Palestinians can decide their fate
Araghchi: The Zionist entity is a threat to the countries of the region, and a real solution must be reached
Araghchi: Iran wishes nothing but good, progress, and development for its neighboring countries, and we must expand economic and structural projects with them

National Interest: US must 'punish Algiers', EU shouldn't rely on them

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The National Interest
  • 2 Dec 2022 14:06
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

An article written in The National Interest wages war in imperialist rhetoric - this time against Algeria.

  • x
  • Sonatrach's headquarters in Algiers, Algeria November 25, 2019. (Reuters)
    Sonatrach's headquarters in Algiers, Algeria November 25, 2019. (Reuters)

As an Arab country with energy resources, could Algeria become a balancing ground for the United States with Algiers' friendly neighbors? 

An article written in The National Interest argues that the United States, after the incumbent war in Ukraine and the energy wars in Europe, should not rely on Algeria for energy. However, the approach to reasoning why Europe should not rely on Algiers comes close to what we see as an Israeli tantrum. 

Alex Grinberg, an Israeli intelligence officer, argues that Algeria has growing ties with US rivals, like Iran and Russia, with economic and military contracts running between them - the ties raise concerns in the eyes of Washington, such that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Algeria in April 2022 to address Algiers' relationship with Russia in an attempt to dissuade them from further bilateral developments. This did not work.

Read next: Moscow welcomes Algiers' desire to join BRICS

Last month, Russia and Algeria conducted joint military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. 

This month, December, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will be signing an arms deal worth more than $12 billion in a coming visit to Russia. This comes after Republican Representative Lisa McClain wrote to Blinken last year telling him to sanction Algeria for purchasing weapons from Russia worth $7 billion in 2022. Algeria's sovereign decisions violated the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. With this being said, Algeria is one of the Russian military's most important clients, and is actually becoming the African country with the most military spending. 

Related News

Trump regional strategy 'made over Netanyahu’s head': NYT

Mexican navy ship crash at Brooklyn Bridge kills 2, injures 17

Interestingly, Algeria has a growing importance to southern Europe because of its natural gas supplies, as it is going to become the biggest gas supplier to Italy in 2023.

'Algeria cannot go unpunished'

Pushing imperialist rhetoric, Grinberg writes, "the United States and Europe must hold the government in Algeria accountable for its actions before it’s too late," entailing interventionist and aggressive approaches in dealing with Algiers for making sovereign decisions which, actually, do not threaten Washington's national security. 

"Algeria’s military shopping spree cannot go unpunished," Grinberg wrote. "The arms deals violate U.S. laws, and Washington should implement sanctions immediately."

Algerian energy is pivotal to European security today, as it supplies almost 49% of Spain's imported gas, flowing through 2 pipelines Medgaz and GME. In July this year, Sonatrach - an Algerian energy company - signed a $4 billion oil and gas deal with 2 major European energy companies, ENI, which is Italian, and Total, which is French. 

Read next: Sonatrach, Eni announce start of production in oil field

The National Interest speculates a brow-raising conspiracy, that with the fact that Sonatrach is a state-owned corporation, the "Algerian regime" could use the company "as a geopolitical tool." The author argues that when Spain decided to support Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, Algeria recalled its ambassador from Spain and Sonatrach hiked gas prices flowing into Spain. Grinberg says nothing about Spain's intervention in Algerian border security.

The writer went on to slam Algiers, saying that since the country's "independence" - actually, a liberation - from France in 1962, Algeria is a "dictatorship" ruled by a "junta of generals" with a "corrupt and inefficient economy, denying liberties to its citizens and flouting human rights."

It's worth noting that Grinberg is an Israeli officer serving the intelligence sector of the Israeli military, which continuously kills, subjugates, incarcerates, and illegally annexes land. 

  • United States
  • Eni
  • Spain
  • Morocco
  • Algeria
  • TotalEnergies
  • Sonatrach

Most Read

Two F-35 jets arrive at it's new operational base Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (AP)

F-35 near-misses over Yemen signal new risks for 'Israel': Forbes

  • Politics
  • 14 May 2025
Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP )

Gaza casualty figures mask a much bigger horror, new study shows

  • Politics
  • 11 May 2025
Abu Obaida

Abu Obeida posts shortly after Israeli reports about his assassination

  • Palestine
  • 15 May 2025
Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

  • Politics
  • 15 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
A Microsoft sign and logo are pictured at the company's headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP)
Technology

Microsoft admits supplying AI to 'Israel' amid Gaza carnage

Israeli occupation’s tanks parked in a staging area near the border with Gaza, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP)
Politics

'Israel' launches multi-axis assault in Gaza under 'Gideon’s Chariots'

People stand at the train ticket counter of NJ Transit at Penn Station, amid a strike by New Jersey Transit train engineers, in New York, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP)
Economy

Commuters stranded amid first New Jersey railway strike in 40 years

Trump's tax bill stalls as Republican opposition demands deeper cuts
US & Canada

Trump's tax bill stalls as Republican opposition demands deeper cuts

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS