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Years of simmering tensions between Algiers and Abu Dhabi boiled over last month when Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the country was severing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates. The ministry did not cite a specific reason for the split, but the decision appeared to stem from Algeria’s frustration over Emirati support for armed groups in North Africa—including possibly inside Algeria—which Algiers considers destabilizing.

This diplomatic rupture reflects the increasingly assertive foreign policy Algeria’s current leadership has advanced since coming to power in 2019. Algiers long prided itself on being a mediator in the region but saw that role decline in recent decades on account of the country’s 1992-2002 civil war and the declining health of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Now, under President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, things are changing: By pursuing foreign partnerships, recalibrating its relations with Washington and Moscow, and taking a decisive stance against Abu Dhabi, Algiers is demonstrating its intention to reclaim its regional and international influence after decades of absence.

Years of simmering tensions between Algiers and Abu Dhabi boiled over last month when Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the country was severing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates. The ministry did not cite a specific reason for the split, but the decision appeared to stem from Algeria’s frustration over Emirati support for armed groups in North Africa—including possibly inside Algeria—which Algiers considers destabilizing.

This diplomatic rupture reflects the increasingly assertive foreign policy Algeria’s current leadership has advanced since coming to power in 2019. Algiers long prided itself on being a mediator in the region but saw that role decline in recent decades on account of the country’s 1992-2002 civil war and the declining health of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Now, under President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, things are changing: By pursuing foreign partnerships, recalibrating its relations with Washington and Moscow, and taking a decisive stance against Abu Dhabi, Algiers is demonstrating its intention to reclaim its regional and international influence after decades of absence.

This shift has its limits, though. Algeria has shown little willingness to mend ties with longtime rival Morocco or abandon support for Western Saharan independence. For Washington, helping to manage this tense regional relationship is crucial to keeping the U.S.-Algerian opening on track.

In 2020, several factors converged to push Algerian foreign policy in this new direction. Tebboune had just taken office following domestic protests demanding the removal of the political, military, and business elites who had ruled Algeria since 1962. This movement, known as the Hirak, united broad segments of Algerian society and ultimately pushed........

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