Kennedy’s 1957 Resolution Regarding The Algerian Revolution

Résumé: On 2 July 1957, Senator John F. Kennedy delivered a controversial speech to the US Senate entitled “Imperialism-the Enemy of Freedom,” in which he stigmatized French colonialism and promulgated his backing to Algerian independence by introducing a resolution to achieve a solution in this sense. For this reason, his address became known as the ‘Algeria speech.’ Kennedy considered that imperialism was the main enemy of liberty and that its Western version was virtually as atrocious as the Soviet form. In a Cold War context, the speech aroused immediate divergent reactions namely, from America, France, Algeria, and elsewhere. His speech was directly lambasted by the White House, the State Department, American allies, and the press. In the Arab World and in Algeria more specifically, it was warmly hailed since it represented official political support in favor of Algerian independence emanating from a political thinker of the scale of Kennedy. Even though as a president, Kennedy softened his stance on the Algerian issue, he nevertheless constituted a crucial spokesman for the resolution of the latter, at a time when it was confined to the sphere of France’s internal problem. Kennedy should be acknowledged for the key role he played in the internationalization of the Algerian War of independence during one of its darkest episodes.

Publié dans la revue: المصادر