Far more insidious than the territorial contrasts was the vigorous development in many countries of the area of Islamic fundamentalism, which was particularly strong in Algeria where the fundamentalists responded with the guerrillas to the cancellation of the electoral round of 1992 in which a victory of the Islamic front was looming. The protraction for years of a terrorist practice and without political outlets allowed, however, a slow but continuous recovery of consensus for the new president (1994) Zéroual who spared no means, more or less legitimate, to oppose the activities of the fundamentalists. This process culminated in a referendum for the modification of the Constitution, held in 1996, which corresponded, by the opponents, to the accentuation of massacres and murders against secular and political personalities, but also of simple unarmed citizens who, inasmuch as they were not openly deployed, they were considered tout court enemies. The picture did not change with the new president Bouteflika (1999), who was unable to advance national reconciliation or the plan to propose the country as the protagonist of a renewed process of Maghrebi integration, and who in fact suffered the violent revolt in 2001 of Kabylia, a region east of Algiers inhabited by the Berber-speaking minority (which constitutes 30% of the population throughout the state). Fundamentalist activism, accompanied by a series of attacks often of a xenophobic nature, created, albeit in a less dramatic way, many problems also in Egypt and began to touch the stability of the Libyan regime itself, as well as, with Gaddafi, had supported the circles of international Islamic fundamentalism in an anti-Western function. Libya, however, after having for this granted years of international isolation, was able to slowly reconnect with the Western powers and reintroduce itself into the political game of continental Africa, intervening to mediate the many inter-African conflicts and urging the creation of the COMESSA (Community of States of the Sahel and the Sahara) with Sudan, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. In moderate forms, on the other hand, Islamism also appeared in Morocco and continued to represent the Muslim majority of the Moors in Mauritania as opposed to the black minority, fueling an ethnic contrast dating back to colonial times and re-emerged in recent years against the backdrop of the extreme poverty of the country. According to countryaah, North Africa remained marked by an overall picture in which the authoritarianism of many regimes, the roots of Islamism, economic delays and multinational interests linked to oil resources led to an excessive slowness in the processes of political liberalization, although timidly launched in almost all the states in the area, and a general resistance to Western-style modernization, often judged unsuitable for solving the problems of unemployment, misery, inflation, illiteracy, emigration that arouse growing collective unease and corrode now the seal of societies traditionally cohesive by religious culture.

This is particularly evident in authoritarianism of many regimes, the roots of Islamism, economic delays and multinational interests linked to oil resources caused excessive slowness in the processes of political liberalization, albeit timidly initiated in almost all the States of the area, and a general resistance towards Western-style modernization, often judged unsuitable for solving the problems of unemployment, misery, inflation, illiteracy, emigration that arouse growing collective unease and now corrode the hold of societies traditionally cohesive by religious culture. This is particularly evident in authoritarianism of many regimes, the roots of Islamism, economic delays and multinational interests linked to oil resources caused excessive slowness in the processes of political liberalization, albeit timidly initiated in almost all the States of the area, and a general resistance towards Western-style modernization, often judged unsuitable for solving the problems of unemployment, misery, inflation, illiteracy, emigration that arouse growing collective unease and now corrode the hold of societies traditionally cohesive by religious culture. This is particularly evident in excessive slowness in the processes of political liberalization, albeit timidly initiated in almost all the States of the area, and a general resistance to Western-style modernization, often judged unsuitable to solve the problems of unemployment, misery, inflation, illiteracy, emigration that arouse growing collective unease and now corrode the hold of societies traditionally cohesive by religious culture. This is particularly evident in emigration that arouse growing collective unease and by now corrode the hold of societies traditionally cohesive by religious culture. This is particularly evident in emigration that arouse growing collective unease and by now corrode the hold of societies traditionally cohesive by religious culture. This is particularly evident in Sudan, a country marginalized by the international forum, devastated by the economic crisis and dominated by a Muslim regime which since 1983 the religious minorities, especially Christians, in the South have been opposing with arms. The situation in Chad is similar.which, after years of tribal feuds and authoritarian regimes, is still troubled by opposition guerrillas and serious underdevelopment, which the government tried to tackle by starting the exploitation of the still intact oil wealth between 1999 and 2000. Countries such as Sudan and Chad, located at the intersection of northern, central and eastern Africa, have also suffered from the dangerous conflicts which have affected the East and the heart of the continent. In fact, in East Africa, while Somalia continued to experience its chronic state of anarchy after the complete withdrawal of the UN troops (1995), for three years the Horn of Africa was devastated by the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Divided, in fact, at the end of the common fight against Mengistu by territorial conflicts, the two countries have been protagonists since 1998 in a destructive conflict, aggravated by hunger and famine, which only ended at the end of 2000 with the signing of a peace that was the fruit of efforts of mediation of international diplomacy. The other great state of this region, Kenya, has not ceased to be grappling with the economic difficulties that began in the 1980s, with ethnic violence and with the repression of an authoritarian regime that was only apparently democratized in the following decade and isolated from the community. international, despite the good relations established with the USA for the role of bulwark against Islamic terrorist movements ostentatiously assumed by the government.