Algeria seemingly suspects that Russia might leverage its dominant military supply role to coerce concessions on the latest Mali-Tuareg conflict, which Algiers wouldn’t comply with for national security reasons, ergo why it’s now exploring Indian and US arms deals to hedge against this scenario.
If a rift between Russia and Algeria develops in the way you suggest, it would have been an uncharacteristically clumsy piece of diplomacy on the part of Russia.
Thank you. One of my constructive critiques about Russian foreign policy over the years is that sometimes its balancing acts, for as well intentioned as they are, end up backfiring.
I'm not sure what it could do better in this case, but I do hope that it wasn't surprised by Algeria's reaction, which makes perfect sense from the position of its interests.
That's not to say that I support Algeria over Russia in this issue, just that I understand the imperatives behind its policy.
Thank you for this interesting article.
If a rift between Russia and Algeria develops in the way you suggest, it would have been an uncharacteristically clumsy piece of diplomacy on the part of Russia.
Thank you. One of my constructive critiques about Russian foreign policy over the years is that sometimes its balancing acts, for as well intentioned as they are, end up backfiring.
I'm not sure what it could do better in this case, but I do hope that it wasn't surprised by Algeria's reaction, which makes perfect sense from the position of its interests.
That's not to say that I support Algeria over Russia in this issue, just that I understand the imperatives behind its policy.