Containing Radicalism through the Political Process in North Africa MICHAEL J. WILLIS St Antony’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK ABSTRACT Over the past 30 years, the states of North Africa have witnessed the emergence of forms of political radicalism, most notably of an Islamist colouring, within their borders. The destabiliZing effect this radicalism has often had, not only on the states themselves but also on the surrounding region, including Europe, has led to an increasing focus on how political processes within the states can be ordered to minimize and contain this radicalism. The states of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have all made changes to their constitutions and political systems to attempt to deal with this radicalism largely through allowing radical and Islamist groups to organize political parties and field candidates in elections. However, this article aims to show that the objective of the regimes in these three states in adopting this approach has not been to reduce the radicalism of these groups but rather to head off any possible challenges to the survival of the regimes. The net effect of this has frequently been to increase rather than reduce the radicalism of these groups. This occurs either through the subsequent exclusion of previously included groups or through a willingness to encourage more radical but less powerful groups as a means of undermining less radical but more powerful – and thus challenging – groups. Over the past 30 years, the states of North Africa have all witnessed the emergence of forms of political radicalism, most notably of an Islamist colouring, within their borders. The destabilizing effect this radicalism has often had, not only on the states themselves but also on the surrounding region, including Europe, has led to an increasing focus on how political processes within the states can be ordered to minimize and contain this radicalism. The idea that radicalism can be contained through formal political processes is not a new one and can be found in theories of liberal democracy. It is argued that by including previously excluded political, social and even economic forces in political processes and the running of the state, these forces will feel that they have a say and a voice and that their interests and views are not neglected. They will therefore not seek to resort to radical or violent means to have their opinions heard or their interests considered. Such an approach was adopted in several southern European 1362-9395 Print/1743-9418 Online/06/020137-14 q 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/13629390600682859 Correspondence Address: Michael J. Willis, The Middle East Centre, St Antony’s College, Oxford University, Oxford OX2 6JF, UK. Email: michael.willis@st-antonys.oxford.ac.uk Mediterranean Politics, Vol. 11, No. 2, 137–150, July 2006