Former French ambassador to Algeria Xavier Driencourt argues that Algeria’s political system has long relied on military power, official memory of colonialism and France’s discomfort with its past to sustain itself, according to a new book that has entered France’s top 20 bestseller list last week.
In “L’Algérie 1830-2026. Vérités et légendes” (“Algeria 1830-2026: Truths and Legends”), published by Perrin in June, Driencourt examines nearly two centuries of French-Algerian relations through 27 questions covering topics ranging from the 1830 French conquest to the presidency of Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Driencourt, who served two terms as France’s ambassador to Algeria, presents the book as an effort to explain Algeria as a system of power while exploring what he describes as France’s enduring inability to understand its former colony.
“The ‘system’, as Algeria’s mode of governance is known in Algiers, operated perfectly,” Driencourt writes, describing what he calls the country’s three pillars of power, namely the presidency, the military and the intelligence services.
The author argues that Algeria’s governing structure has remained largely unchanged since independence in 1962, with the military exercising decisive influence behind civilian institutions.
Structured around a series of historical and political controversies, the book challenges what Driencourt sees as myths embedded in both French and Algerian national narratives.
According to Driencourt, the decisive political moment came not with independence itself but in July 1962, when internal power struggles allowed military leaders to dominate the new state.
He argues that successive presidents, from Ahmed Ben Bella to Tebboune, have governed within a system whose foundations were established by the army after independence.
The former diplomat also devotes significant attention to contemporary French-Algerian tensions, particularly over migration, historical memory and diplomatic relations.
He criticizes what he calls Paris’s tendency to approach Algeria through the lens of colonial guilt, while arguing that Algerian authorities continue to derive political legitimacy from anti-French rhetoric and demands for historical recognition.
Driencourt describes the memory of colonization as a “memorial rent” used by the Algerian state to reinforce its legitimacy and extract concessions from France.
His proposed remedy is a policy of “reciprocity” in bilateral relations, under which France would condition diplomatic, migration and other forms of cooperation on equivalent actions from Algeria.
The book’s publication comes amid recurring tensions between Paris and Algiers over migration, visas and competing interpretations of the colonial past, issues that continue to shape one of France’s most sensitive foreign relationships.
