>>509073797 (OP)Recently, a war with Mali, which was rather unexpected for several reasons:
historically Algeria is a "scoundrel nation" aligned with the USSR and anti-American and anti-European, while Mali has been a good lapdog to France for a long time.
But recently Mali turned anti-French and invited Muslim desert nomads and the Russian Wagner group to wage war in their name.
They tried taking control of Algerian outposts and desert trade routes with their new Anti-Western friends.
Algeria was caught a bit off guard. Instead of begging Russia and China for help, for once in their life they sought Western help to beat back the Malian offensive.
The result?
An incredible Algerian success, and one of the greatest losses the Russian Wagner group has ever had. Many victims too.
All in all, Algeria has tasted the friendship of the West for the very first time rather recently, and this timid experiment proved an absolute triumph, to the surprise of all parties involved.
We'll see how the situation evolves, but there are interesting openings for a renewed collaboration with Europe, which would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.
The events I describe refer to the Battle of Tinzaouaten in July 2024.