Algeria - France relations under the shadow of colonial legacy

Colonialism has changed and transformed individuals, societies and cultures over the centuries. Algeria also suffered from the history of colonialism, and although Algeria declared its independence after its struggle against French colonialism, the colonial legacy left behind by France still shows its effect in every field. Moreover, this legacy continued to affect Algeria-France relations after the independence of Algeria in different ways. At this point, although postcolonialism is not considered as one of the mainstream theories in international relations, it is helpful to understand and analyze enduring effects of colonialism on bilateral relations between former colonist and colony. While this, research adopted post-colonial approach. This research assumed that besides economic and political effects, implications of colonialism continued on Algerian identity, memory and discourses, which eventually shape the content and nature of Algeria-France relatios. The main purpose of the research is to examine how the colonial legacy has affected bilateral relations from Algeria's declaration of independence from French colonialism in 1962 to the present, by referring to the theory of postcolonialism. The historical process of the research was determined as the period from 1962 to the first half of 2022, and this process was divided into three important milestones: from Algeria's independence in 1962 to the Algerian Civil War; from the end of the Algerian Civil War (2002) to the Algerian Hirak Movement in 2019 and from the Algerian Hirak Movement to the first half of 2022. In this whole process, the analysis of bilateral relationship has been analyzed mostly through the government's policies and the discourses of politicians, and it provides a prediction about the future of bilateral relations.