independence

Is Algeria celebrating the past to avoid talking about the present? 50 years after independence, François Picard’s panel looks at how the love-hate relationship with France and the civil war of the 1990s cloud the conversation over how to stamp out corruption and curb the influence of the military.

Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence. It didn't come without a brutal war. In the uprising against French rule that began in 1954, 150,000 Algerians and 18,000 French troops died. But one thing kept the Algerian nationalists going: they received funding from afar, from families and social networks - particularly in Paris. Many of the Algerians caught up in it then have been seeking some kind of reconciliation ever since.

Half a century after the signing of the Evian Accords that led to Algerian independence from France, both countries are still sensitive about the war that came before the treaty. Next, the rise of political Islam in Tunisia sparks conflict at a renowned leftist university not far from the capital, Tunis. Finally, a new generation of artists has entered the spotlight as they share their vision of the Arab spring with the world.