Magical and elusive, the problematic Algeria remains mysterious. With it's history of violence, the irrational appears when we avoke this North African country with its mervelous mediterranean capital, Algers. Spectra of violence and radical Islamism are still present but the country seems to emerge from the darkness. Vast and diverse territory, Algeria barely grow despite the image of modernity and dynamism that the Algerian authorities may wish to project abroad. After a long colonization, war of independence, and a war between the military and Islamists, Algeria will continue to forge transformations to build its separate identity from France.