After the war was over: Franco-Algerian security cooperation in the 1960s
Channel: War Studies KCL
Date: 24/03/2022

The turmoil surrounding France’s violent exit from Algeria in 1962 has become emblematic of the traumas intrinsic when decolonisation is fought to a bitter end. It marked one of the more definitive ruptures between a former colony and its erstwhile coloniser. The abrupt departure of over half a million European settlers, the triumphalism of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), and the desperate, nihilistic terrorism of the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS) all point to relationships torn apart in an atmosphere of bitter recrimination.

After eight years of war culminating in Algerian nationhood, it might seem surprising that security cooperation between the newly-independent Algerian state and its former colonial enemy, France, should resume within a matter of months. Within a slightly longer timeframe – five years – France was secretly asked to assist in constructing an Algerian security service modeled on the SDECE, France’s external intelligence agency.

This event explored how this shift came about, examining the Algerian political marketplace for external assistance and French adaptation to it in conjunction with the FLN cadres supporting future president Houari Boumédiène.