Despite stumbling over two major obstacles, normalization with Israel and the Western Sahara dispute, relations between the United States and Algeria are advancing along a path of cautious but steady cooperation. The partnership is broadening in several key areas, most notably security, economics, and cultural exchange.
What makes this trajectory notable, and even surprising to many observers, is not only that ties have warmed, but also that they have done so despite enduring points of contention. This demands an exploration of why the relationship has grown, and how it is edging toward a more strategic partnership.
Algeria’s role as a counterterrorism partner has been central. Since the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Washington has increasingly turned to Algiers for intelligence sharing, security coordination, and training for local forces. This cooperation has given Algeria a unique position as both a regional stabilizer and a trusted security interlocutor for the U.S.
The State Department’s most recent counterterrorism report, published in 2023, underscored this dynamic. It credited Algeria with carrying out domestic counterterrorism operations, dismantling militant networks, and destroying arms caches. The report also highlighted the continuation of U.S.–Algerian cooperation through regular dialogue, intelligence exchanges, and technical assistance—evidence that security remains the strongest pillar of the relationship.
Algeria’s importance as an active partner for Washington in counterterrorism has grown, especially after the events of September 11. This included intelligence sharing and training for local security forces.
In its latest counterterrorism report, issued in 2023, the U.S. State Department noted that Algeria carried out counterterrorism operations within its borders, arrested militants, and destroyed hideouts and weapons depots. The report also highlighted the continuation of U.S.–Algerian counterterrorism cooperation through regular dialogue and technical exchanges.
Security and Culture Versus “Normalization” and the “Sahara”
From Washington’s perspective, Algeria’s stance on the Palestinian issue is clear and entrenched. U.S. officials appear to recognize that Algeria will not join the Abraham Accords in the foreseeable future, especially after the war in Gaza, and have adjusted expectations accordingly. Instead of pressing on normalization, the bilateral relationship has shifted to other, less contentious areas.
“Relations between Algeria and the United States have never been closer than they have over the past two years,” says Sarah Yerkes, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “This is due to increased people-to-people interaction, educational exchange, and other elements of soft power that have brought Algeria and the United States closer than ever before.”
That soft-power dimension has been complemented by growing economic ties. Recent U.S.- Algerian cooperation has expanded into renewable energy, mining, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and the knowledge economy. Even the U.S. decision to raise tariffs on Algerian products by 30 percent failed to slow this momentum.
Energy remains the cornerstone. Algeria holds about 2.3 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves, third in Africa after Nigeria and Mozambique, and among the world’s top ten. Its location across the Mediterranean has made it a key supplier of liquefied natural gas to Italy, Spain, and France. Since the war in Ukraine, Europe’s energy crisis has only magnified Algeria’s importance as an alternative to Russian gas. Its crude oil output, ranging between 900,000 and 1.1 million barrels per day, supplies both Europe and the United States.
For Algiers, rejecting normalization with Israel carries domestic political weight. Analysts argue that the government’s refusal grants it “moral credit” at home, echoing a broader trend also visible in Tunisia, where the Palestinian cause remains central to political identity.
The Western Sahara: A Sticking Point
For U.S. policymakers, Algeria’s refusal to normalize with Israel is not the core problem. “The real challenge for the United States and others is the Western Sahara as a whole, not Algeria’s stance or its obstinacy toward Israel in particular,” says Sarah Yerkes of the Carnegie Endowment. “Rather, it is the fact that this conflict between Morocco and Algeria undermines cooperation.”
The rift is deep. Algeria severed diplomatic ties with Morocco on August 24, 2021, accusing Rabat of “hostile acts” and of supporting a terrorist group linked to deadly wildfires. The rupture quickly spilled into economics: Algiers closed its airspace to Moroccan civilian and military aircraft and refused to renew a pipeline contract that had carried Algerian gas to Spain through Morocco.
As Intissar Fakir of the Middle East Institute in Washington notes, “Other factors affect U.S.- Algerian relations beyond Israel – such as regional stability, potential military cooperation, and expanded economic ties. These are more important to Algeria than joining the Abraham Accords.”
Still, the Western Sahara remains the central fault line, shaping not only relations between Algiers and Rabat but also Washington’s balancing act.
For years, the United States has pressed Algeria to engage in negotiations or at least support Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed territory, a stance that tilts toward Rabat’s position.
That pressure has intensified. During his July 2025 visit to Algiers, U.S. envoy Masad Boulos urged Algerian officials to either join negotiations or push the Polisario Front toward compromise. And in April 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after talks with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, reaffirmed that Morocco’s autonomy proposal is “the only viable solution,” restating U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.
To Washington and many Western capitals, the Sahara dispute and the frozen Algeria–Morocco relationship are more than diplomatic irritants. They are obstacles to regional stability, hurdles to counterterrorism cooperation in the Sahel, and roadblocks to long-discussed plans for North African economic integration.
What About China and Russia?
The presence of other global powers has not derailed the steady growth in U.S.–Algerian relations.
“After the Bouteflika era, Algeria sought greater openness and diversified its international ties, while preserving its long-standing principle of nonalignment,” notes Sarah Yerkes. “While strengthening positive relations with the United States, it has maintained strong partnerships with global powers like Russia and China.”
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune underscored this balancing act in 2023 with visits to Moscow and Beijing, where he signed a series of agreements, including a declaration of “deep partnership.”
For Algiers, the logic is clear: cultivating multiple partnerships ensures flexibility. As Intissar Fakir points out, “Russia and China have fundamentally different roles in Africa. Russia focuses on security cooperation and military services, while China emphasizes economics, investing in infrastructure projects like ports.”
This layered approach allows Algeria to hedge its bets, maintaining its traditional ties with Moscow, embracing Beijing’s economic weight, and building a pragmatic, if sometimes uneven, partnership with Washington.
Beyond “Normalization” and the “Sahara”
On September 12, the UN General Assembly adopted the “New York Declaration,” a resolution calling for concrete, time-bound steps toward a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
The declaration endorsed the creation of an independent Palestinian state, recognized Israel’s right to exist, condemned Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks, and denounced Israel’s blockade and military campaign in Gaza for creating a humanitarian catastrophe. It passed with 142 votes in favor, 10 against, including Israel and the United States, and 12 abstentions.
Algeria voted in favor, sparking debate given its uncompromising record on Israel. Since independence in 1962, it has been one of the Arab world’s staunchest backers of the Palestinian cause. Algiers was the first to recognize the PLO as the Palestinians’ legitimate representative, and it has extended support to groups such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune reiterated in February that Algeria will not normalize with Israel until a Palestinian state is established within 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Algeria remains one of 28 UN member states, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, that do not recognize Israel. In recent years, it has rejected the Abraham Accords and criticized Morocco and the UAE for signing them. Its support for the New York Declaration was therefore notable, not a recognition of Israel, but a diplomatic signal aligning Algiers with a wider international consensus.
Some analysts argue that Algeria is also seeking to leverage growing international anger at Israel, contrasting it with “Rabat’s silence on Gaza,” to present Morocco as standing closer to Israel than to Palestinians. Still, most African states continue to back Morocco’s stance on Western Sahara, underscoring what one analyst described as Algeria’s “long and complicated struggle.”
Yet neither normalization nor the Sahara has derailed U.S. – Algerian ties. Washington has avoided pressing Algiers on recognition of Israel, while Algeria has not allowed U.S. support for Morocco to block broader cooperation. Instead, both countries have focused on pragmatic avenues, security, counterterrorism, energy, and investment, to quietly build what is increasingly described as a strategic partnership.
