Photo source: New Arab By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront It was in December 2020 when Donald Trump ended US neutrality in Western Sahara Conflict. Trump had announced Morocco’s sovereignty over every inch of the Western Sahara territory in exchange for Rabat entering the Abraham Accords. It made Morocco the fourth Arab country to normalise relations with Israel in 2020. Trump’s decision violated international law, and the UN’s peacekeeping efforts to end the conflict. But, all of this has been traumatic for Algeria. It has led many Algerians angry and extremely worried about national security, as they think Rabat may become militarily superior to Algiers in the future, due to enhanced cooperation between the United States and Morocco. As Biden has not reversed Trump’s decision, it has led to a new cold war between Algeria and Morocco. That’s why Algeria severed ties with Morocco in August 2021. While the step undertaken by Algeria may not reflect the same severity of 1994, when Al...

  Photo source: The New Arab By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront There was only twenty three percent voter turnout in the 2021 Algerian election, even as more than thirteen thousand candidates stood for the four hundred seven seats in the parliament. The reason was largely due to Hirak movement boycotting it. Controversies also arose when some estimates suggested that one million votes were cast as invalid. This is the third vote to have taken place since President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted amid 2019 protests for seeking a fifth term in office. During the protests, around twelve hundred people had been arrested, reflecting the regime's brazenness in curbing dissent. His replacement, Tebboune, had vowed to break the cronyism-corruption of the former regime, in the past, and commented that he respected the turnout, despite it being low. But, it turned out as a lie when he made just few changes in his government's top positions. For the academic Nacer Djabi, ‘these electi...

Photo Source: The Economist By Naveed Qazi | Editor Globe UpFront Algeria has begun to explode in anarchy, to the extent that it’s on the verge of an Arab Spring movement. The North African country is witnessing a flurry of massive protests across Algiers.  The people are demanding an end to current President’s rule, Abdel Aziz Boutefilka, after his campaign manager filed his nomination papers, to rerun for the president. The country witnessed its largest rally, on March 1 st , 2019 when tens of thousands of people poured onto the streets. The angry protestors were been huddling the boulevards in the country’s capital. One of the placards, during the protests, sarcastically remarked: “Respect the dead. Bury him, don’t elect him.” The police had even fired tear gas near the presidential office. They have even rejected Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui’s technocratic offer, to include young Algerians in the parliamentary process, who constitute more than 70% of the tota...