PREVIEW
Losing diplomatic ground to Morocco over Western Sahara, Algiers is opening channels to conservative policymakers
Days after securing a second term with a Soviet-style 94.6% vote share, President Abdelmajid Tebboune has contracted a new K-Street lobbying firm to do his government’s bidding in the United States (Dispatches 10/9/24, Military-backed Tebboune gets a Stalin-esque landslide).
BGR Group is one of the larger lobbying outfits in Washington, but the Tebboune government is its only client in Africa. Algeria has form in the influence industry in Washington DC. It managed to use its advocates in the US Senate to block the appointment of Africa specialist Peter Pham as Assistant Secretary for African Affairs in Presidential Donald Trump’s administration arguing that he was too pro-Moroccan. Should Trump win the November election, Pham is likely to get a senior foreign policy post. Pham also edited the Africa policy section of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy planning paper, which insiders say is a blueprint for a second Trump administration despite the candidate’s public disavowal of it.
A second Trump administration would be likely to strongly favour Morocco over Algeria, despite the latter’s expansive oil and gas reserves. The US$720,000 per year lobbying contract with BGR looks like a pre-emptive move. It is signed by BGR and Sabri Boukadoum, Algeria’s Ambassador to the United States, covers the main bases, according to filings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Under the arrangement, BGR will offer ‘strategic guidance and counsel with regard to government affairs and public relations activity within the U.S.’.
‘This may include relevant outreach to U.S. government officials, non-government organizations, U.S. media and other individuals within the U.S. Additionally, it may include dissemination of informational materials,’ the contract adds.
Co-founders of the BGR Group, Haley Barbour and Ed Rogers, were both Ronald Reagan-era Republicans and although the firm markets itself as bipartisan, it is still seen as closely linked to the GOP. Intriguingly, former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, is one of the group’s principal advisors.
Tebboune has been consistently outmanoeuvred by neighbouring Morocco which secured French support for its control over Western Sahara and has strengthened its diplomatic relations with the United States and European Union.
Under pressure from the Trump administration, Morocco agreed to formalise diplomatic ties with Israel in exchange for Washington recognising Rabat’s rights over Western Sahara. As street protests raged in Casablanca and Rabat against Israel’s war in Gaza, King Mohammed VI’s government has been increasingly uneasy about that public commitment – although it has long had close security ties with Israel.
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