s in southeastern Europe, and is
continuing to work toward joining NATO and the EU.

Algeria
After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians
fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962.
Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front
(FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the
subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to
counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising
first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the
December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and
postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular
elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming
power. The army began a crack down on the FIS that spurred FIS
supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government
later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate
religious-based parties, but did not appease the activists who
progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an
insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-98 and which
resulted in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate
massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the
upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic
Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. However, small numbers of
armed militants persist in confronting government forces and
conducting ambushes and occasional attacks on villages. The army
placed Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA in the presidency in 1999 in a
fraudulent election but claimed neutrality in his 2004 landslide
reelection victory. Longstanding problems continue to face
BOUTEFLIKA in his second term, including the ethnic minority
Berbers' ongoing autonomy campaign, large-scale unemployment, a
shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies,
government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing -
although significantly degraded - activities of extremist militants.
Algeria must also diversify its petroleum-based economy, which has
yielded a large cash reserve but which has not been used to redress
Algeria's many social and infrastructure problems. Algeria assumed a
two-year seat on the UN Security Council in January 2004.

American Samoa
Settled as early as 1000 B.C., Samoa was "discovered"
by European explorers in the 18th centu