Letters to the Editor: CLARIFICATION ABOUT ALGERIA, Stephen Zunes, professor of politics, University of San Francisco– 2023 January/February – WRMEA

In the article, “Algeria’s Hirak Movement: A Success or Failure?” (November/December 2022 Washington Report), the published version omitted a number of key points I made during the George Mason University forum. While my support for that movement for reform and greater democracy in Algeria was fairly noted, I also emphasized that the Algerian government’s traditionally progressive role internationally—such as support for liberation struggles in southern Africa, Palestine and Western Sahara—has made it hard for some to challenge some of their problematic domestic policies. I also stressed how U.S. support for the far more repressive U.S.-backed Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, which Freedom House has ranked as having the least political freedom of any country in the world outside of Syria, makes it difficult for those of us in the West to raise concerns about Algeria.

One of the best ways to support greater freedom in Algeria would be for the United States to stop supporting repressive governments elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.

—Stephen Zunes, professor of politics, University of San Francisco

Letters to the Editor: Why Is the U.S. Ambassador Supporting the IDF? – 2023 January/February – WRMEA