Earlier in the semester we discussed the Four waves of modern terrorism. Which of the Four Waves is the Battle of Algiers set? What is the ideology and goals of the Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN)? How does this influence the tactics the FLN utilized and the targets they attacked? How does France react to these attacks? Who are the “bad guys” in this movie? Finally, are there any lessons that can be taken from this movie and applied to the threat form terrorism that we face today?
For your “Question/Comment”, answer any question I pose to your initial post, ask a question of comment on the other student’s post on your discussion team. For your “Response Posts” respond to and questions or comments on your initial post from the other students.
I will provide the question that is posed by the instructor and the 3 students in the drop down menu below I will need you to respond to all that are posted.
Utilize proper citation
TITLE: Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues 7th Edition AUTHOR: Martin, GusPUBLISHER: Sage PublicationsDATE: 2020ISBN: 978-1544375861
Instructor response post
Could you explain why you would consider the Battle of Algiers as set in the New Left wave beside the fact that it takes place in the 1960s?
Student post #1 F
The ideology of the FLN was mainly Islam fundamentalist, as they wanted to impose Islamic principles on society. We see at the beginning of the film as they outlaw prostitution, drugs, and alcohol in their society and enforce it with acts of violence. The group was also extremely anti-colonialist, as they waged a multi-year war with France in order to oust the French from governmental power in Algeria. Based on the ideology and goals of the group, I would argue that the Battle of Algiers is set at the end of the second wave of the four waves of modern terrorism. The second wave was characterized by anticolonialism and lasted between the 1920s and 1960s (Rapport, 2002). I would argue that it fell towards the end of the second wave as it had a religious fundamentalist element associated with it, which is a key characteristic of the following third and fourth waves.
The FLN’s ideology and goals shaped their tactics and targets, as they carried out escalating acts of violence on French police officers and government officials with stabbings, shootings, and bombings. This later escalated to the bombing and killing of dozens of French citizens. As we have seen and discussed elsewhere in the course, they wanted to draw international attention to their grievances with acts of violence and mass killings that had a high killed body count. As such, the majority of their operations remained largely urban, as it allowed them to maximize hit and run tactics. Urban environments gave them not only speed but also locations to hide in after they carried out an attack (Derradji, 2015). France reacted to these acts of violence with escalating force and by placing more invasive security measures on the entire Algerian population. Roadblocks, curfews, and other physical barricades were placed to try to control and monitor people’s movement, at the cost of their convenience.
The portrayed “bad guys” in this movie are the French military and law enforcement. In response to the terrorist attacks, France cracked down with more and more security measures on the Algerian population in order to try and weed out the terrorists. However, the movie does not hesitate in showing the violence the terrorists inflict on French civilians and the military. Civilians are inevitably caught in the crossfire from both sides, and the terrorists do target French civilians with intentional bombings. I think the key takeaway we have from this film is that exhaustive security measures are not the end-all solution to terrorism in a given area. As we saw in the movie, the more security measures the French government put in place, the bolder the terrorist became, and the more sympathetic the general population became to the terrorists’ cause. Instead of relying solely on invasive and brutal security measures and actions, the defenders must also get buy-in from the population that they are trying to protect. In this case, this was obviously very difficult for the French government to do, as they were in control of the area due to their previous colonial expansion era. As such, it would have been very difficult to convince the ruled population that French rule over them was better than their own run government. The issue of relying on security measures and brutal crackdowns was that it drove the general population to support the terrorists’ cause.
References
Derradji, A.-R. (2015). Account of The Algerian Urban Guerrilla Network and Its Role in The FLN’s Campaign during The Battle of Algiers (1956-1958). Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, 14(2), 39–59.
Rapoport, D. C. (2002). The Four Waves of Rebel Terror and September. Anthropoetics, 8(1).
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