In a report on soft power in the era of global fragmentation, the Choiseul Institute highlights the rise of influence strategies now based as much on digital platforms as on traditional diplomacy. In this new environment, where Trump II reinforces the logic of narrative confrontation, certain intermediate states are inserting themselves into this logic by unexpected means. Among them, Algeria, whose cultural activism on social networks is attracting increasing attention.
Social networks transformed into a lever of influence
In recent years, the Algerian digital space has shown a particular capacity to mobilize massively around cultural themes perceived as strategic. What could have remained simple folkloric debates often turn into diplomatic controversies, fueled by the viral diffusion of identity content.
This dynamic is based on three characteristics of the Algerian public: connected youth, a high density of users of video platforms and a large diaspora, mainly in Europe, which acts as a sounding board. At the slightest criticism of their narratives, campaigns are organized, supported by hashtags and influencers, and circulated through TikTok, Facebook, X or Instagram.
A digital communications expert sums up the phenomenon: “There is a form of national reflex of cultural defense. As soon as a symbolic element is perceived as threatened, Algeria manages to make noise very quickly and very loudly. »
UNESCO, a catalyst for identity narratives
The most visible playing field of this strategy remains the heritage files filed with UNESCO. The inclusion of artisanal or culinary traditions in intangible heritage has given rise to multiple regional controversies.
In the Maghreb and Europe, these digital campaigns are seen as an attempt at unilateral appropriation of practices historically linked to certain countries or shared in the region.
A Maghreb diplomatic source observes: “Social networks amplify demands that were once confined to heritage experts. They become political, mobilizing and sometimes conflicting subjects. »
The issue therefore goes beyond cultural defense: it is about obtaining, through virality, an international legitimacy that is more performative than based on real historical evidence.
Structured digital relays
On the platforms, mobilization is not limited to citizen spontaneity. Well-followed influencers, diasporic collectives and pages with nationalist orientations actively participate in these campaigns. Videos resulting from these strategies reach millions of views. And when foreign actors challenge these narratives, reactions follow, often within a few hours.
According to several information specialists, this organizational capacity testifies to a State strategy allowing its relays to act rather than communicating head-on. The objective: to impose digital pressure that is difficult to ignore without appearing to be a direct participant in a cultural standoff.
“Power does not need to direct, it just needs to encourage”notes a Parisian researcher. “The ecosystem does the rest, with spectacular efficiency. »
Double-edged digital patriotism
But the model has its limits. Because the platforms reward controversy more than pedagogy. Stories are becoming strained, as are bilateral relations. Analysts thus fear a shift towards a nationalism of emotion, where each cultural element becomes a front, each tradition a flag.
In several Maghrebi diplomatic circles, it is emphasized that this type of strategy can lead to irreversible identity escalations: “ The networks do not defuse anything. They accelerate. They dramatize. And they leave traces. »
Digital influence: a new geopolitical situation
Algerian activism illustrates a broader phenomenon highlighted by the Choiseul Institute: the circulation of influence no longer depends on the classic power relationship, but on the mastery of digital stories. In other words, Algeria does not impose itself through its economic or military strength, but by seeking to occupy the collective imagination – where it reacts most quickly: the networks.
In a world weakened by populism, where cultural confrontation often replaces diplomatic dialogue, this strategy allows marginalized countries to exist.
The risk, warn several European observers, is that the battle for heritage becomes a precedent: if each country transforms the platforms into a battlefield of memory, international cultural cooperation could be permanently weakened.
Algeria has made platforms a multiplier of influence, capable of propelling the country to the center of regional controversies.
