War and peace
On December 13, 1973, Henry Kissinger decided at the last minute to include Algiers in his regional tour. The American Secretary of State began a veritable diplomatic marathon in preparation for the peace conference which should bring together the Israelis and the Arab countries following the Yom Kippur War.
However, the Algerian stopover is not easy. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with the United States following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (they were not reestablished until November 1974). Furthermore, the Algerian Minister of Industry and Energy, Bélaïd Abdesselam, three days before Kissinger arrived in Algiers, threatened to denounce the gas contracts with American companies – i.e. 30 billion cubic meters of gas delivered annually…
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