The Islamist Challenge in Algeria: A Political History

In recent years, Algeria has been rocked by social upheaval, protest, and spasmodic violence. Like many countries caught between the tides of fundamentalist religion and secular culture, the very fiber of the nation seems to be fraying. Michael Willis here charts the meteoric rise of one of the largest and most powerful Islamist movements in the Muslim world. Tracing its origins to the French colonial domination in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Islamism has always played a defining role in both the national struggle against the French and in the newly independent Algerian state. The primary focus of Willis's book is on Algeria since 1988, when unprecedented social unrest led to political changes that allowed Algeria's Islamists to form political parties and compete in multi- party elections. The largest Islamist party, the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS), after rousing victories in local and national elections in 1990 and 1991, was subsequently crushed by the military regime. Since then, despite the Rome Accord of January 1995, over 50,000 lives have been lost in an increasingly bloody conflict that threatens to spiral out of control. Banned by the army, the FIS splintered, with various factions arming themselves, leading to the current, ominous state of disarray.

About the Author :
Michael Willis obtained his doctorate from the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Durham, where he is currently an Honorary Research Associate.

Review :
"A very readable and even-handed interpretation of a complex and controversial topic. The author integrates a wealth of diverse historical and contemporary data to provide as full an understanding as one can have about political Islam's severe challenge to state and society in Algeria . . . Highly recommended."--John P. Entelis, author of State and Society in Algeria "An informed and balanced political chronology that is of great utility to any analyst seeking to formulate his or her own interpretation of the Algerian tragedy. Willis has gathered together a wide range of sources allowing him to construct a political chronology that traces how a nation, endowed with political, cultural, and economic assets and moving toward democracy at the end of the 1980s, devolved into chaos through much of the 1990s. The book's careful documentation, multiple perspectives, and thoughtful refelctions willl challenge simplistic explanations of Algeria's latest tragedy."--Journal of World History "Integrates a wealth of diverse historical and contemporary data to provide as full an understanding as one can have about political Islam's severe challenge to state and society in Algeria."--John P. Entelis, author of Sate and Society in Algeria "What [Willis does], and what he does extremely well, is explain how it all came about...he carefully traces the rise of Algerian Islamism from its early days during the 132 years of French colonial rule, its short moment of glory when it seemed about to take power in the late 1980s, and its subsequent crash...well-written, skillfully presented, and illuminating."--New York Review of Books