The recent US-facilitated talks in Madrid mark a significant development in the long-standing Sahara dispute. Its relations with key regional actors, including France, Spain, and the Sahel’s AES bloc, are tense or deteriorating. Outside of Tunisia, whose foreign policy has increasingly aligned with Algiers under severe financial dependence, Algeria today finds itself diplomatically isolated both in the Mediterranean and across Africa. Domestically, these diplomatic reversals intersect with Algeria’s deepening economic pressures, including declining hydrocarbon revenues and mounting fiscal constraints. All signs suggest that the foundations of Algeria’s Sahara policy are being quietly but unmistakably re-evaluated.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 12, 2026 12:00 UTC