This week, in Algiers, the People’s National Assembly prepared to vote on a draft law that does far more than seek reparations for the colonial past; it effectively declares a juridical war on the Western historical narrative. The “Memory Law,” designed to criminalize French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962, is not merely a statute about history. It is the capstone of a strategic “Identity War” waged by the regime of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Army Chief of Staff Saïd Chengriha, a war that repurposes the language of decolonization to erect a “Juridical Iron Curtain” across North Africa. By codifying the West as a criminal entity, Algeria is burning its bridges with Europe to secure its integration into the authoritarian orbit of Russia and China.
The legislation frames the entire 132-year French presence not as a period of occupation, but as a continuous “project of uprooting and annihilation.”
Parliamentary Speaker Ibrahim Boughali did not mince words when he introduced the bill, describing it as a “supreme act of sovereignty” and a “defining moment in modern Algeria.” The legislation frames the entire 132-year French presence not as a period of occupation, but as a continuous “project of uprooting and annihilation” akin to a crime against humanity without a statute of limitations.This is a radical escalation from previous demands for an apology.
By legally defining the colonial era as an enterprise of extermination, the Algerian state is creating a mechanism to criminalize any diplomatic, cultural, or intellectual engagement that does not begin with a total Western admission of guilt. It is a legal trap designed to make normal relations with France—and by extension, the NATO alliance—impossible, transforming historical grievances into a permanent diplomatic weapon.
This legislative assault is occurring in tandem with a ruthless cultural purge that can only be described as “linguicide.” Under the guise of modernization, the Algerian government has launched a scorched-earth campaign against the French language, the historical bridge between the southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean. In September 2025, universities were ordered to replace French with English as the language of instruction, a logistical nightmare implemented not for pedagogical improvement but for political rupture. This forced “Anglicization” is a strategic pivot, signaling that the future Algerian elite will be severed from the Francosphere and reoriented towards a global order where Western Europe is irrelevant. The regime is effectively nationalizing the minds of the next generation, ensuring they are insulated from the “soft power” of their closest European neighbors.
While Algiers slams the door on the West, it is throwing the gates open to the East, creating a security nightmare on NATO’s southern flank. The vacuum left by the expulsion of French cultural and diplomatic influence is being filled by Russian military hardware and Chinese digital infrastructure. Late 2025 saw the Algerian People’s National Army conduct joint “Desert Shield” exercises with Russian forces, solidifying an interoperability that threatens the balance of power in the Maghreb. This is not a transactional relationship; it is a strategic alignment. Algeria remains one of Moscow’s most reliable partners, providing the Kremlin with a foothold in the western Mediterranean even as Russia remains isolated by the war in Ukraine.
It is the final declaration that Algeria is pivoting away from the Mediterranean community to become a fortress state on the model of Iran or North Korea.
Simultaneously, the regime has locked its economic and technological future into the Chinese orbit. In December 2025, Algeria signed strategic agreements with China’s Geespace to manufacture satellites and develop space technology. This deal integrates Algeria into Beijing’s “Digital Silk Road,” granting the regime advanced surveillance capabilities that will undoubtedly be turned inward against dissidents and outward against its rival, Morocco. Furthermore, Algeria’s formal accession to the BRICS New Development Bank in May 2025 provides the financial shield necessary to withstand potential Western economic pressure, effectively sanctions-proofing the autocracy.
The West often views these developments as isolated incidents of post-colonial friction, but this is a dangerous miscalculation. The “Memory Law” is the ideological software running on the hardware of Russian air defense systems and Chinese satellites. It is the final declaration that Algeria is pivoting away from the Mediterranean community to become a fortress state on the model of Iran or North Korea—a “Resistance Axis” on Europe’s doorstep.
By criminalizing the history of its relationship with the West, the Algerian regime is not seeking justice; it is manufacturing a permanent enemy to justify its authoritarian grip and its alliance with the revisionist powers of the East. The Iron Curtain has fallen on the southern Mediterranean, and it is made of paper, laws, and lies.
Published originally on December 22, 2025.
