The North African regimes are a security problem for themselves, for the EU and for The US

Violence, depolitisation and Islamisation characterise North African societies

North African regimes’ tendency to cling to the status quo results in depolitisation and Islamisation of the populations but also in the quest of political pluralism.

The desperate riots are often seen as about the only way to channel socio-economic and political despair. At the same time North Africa, especially Algeria – continues to be shaken by still more violent suicide bombings carried out by Osama Bin Laden – inspired Islamists. These developments undermine the regimes’ legitimacy and heighten EU and US concerns with security in North Africa. The combination of authoritarian regimes, the US ‘war against terrorism’, the European fight against illegal immigration and the ‘home-grown’ North African terrorism, strengthen the North African regimes’ concerns with regime security at the expense of political pluralism – with Morocco as an exception to a certain extent. The ‘unholy’ alliance between regimes, US and the EU policies, tend to worsen the security situation in North Africa, thereby going against the original American and European goal of exporting democracy.

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