Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika suffered what his government is describing as a mini-stroke Saturday. In power since 1999, Bouteflika has overseen his country's emergence out of civil war to achieving status as a leading regional player, and its transition from being seen in the West as a human rights pariah to a vital partner in the fight against regional jihadists. While personalities often matter little within the global geopolitical framework, it is difficult to overlook Bouteflika's influence in Algeria's re-emergence as a pivotal player in the Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern geopolitical arenas.

Bouteflika is one of the few surviving members of the cohort of revolutionaries that guided Algeria following its independence from France in 1962. Foreshadowing his future role as the president who would help shepherd Algeria out of a civil war, Bouteflika rose through Algeria's political ranks after the revolutionary war ended. He became minister of foreign affairs in 1963, retaining that role until 1978 due to his support for longtime friend and ally Houari Boumediene, whose bloodless 1965 coup purged a number of leaders of his generation or sent them into political exile.

Algeria enjoyed a string of foreign policy successes throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The Algiers Agreement between Iran and Iraq was signed in 1975. The Algiers Accords of 1981 ushered in a conclusion to the Iran hostage crisis. After the country's growing hydrocarbon industry was nationalized in 1971, investments directed by Boumediene cemented Algeria's role as the industrial core of the Maghreb.

After Boumediene's unexpected death in 1978, however, Bouteflika fell out of political favor, largely because of reactions within the military-backed political system to Boumediene's centralized political power and rule. Convicted of embezzling government funds in 1983, Bouteflika spent much of the 1980s living in self-imposed exile until his eventual pardon. He maintained a low political profile for much of the 1990s.

After the Algerian military and Islamist militants fought a civil war from 1991-2002 — incurring deep costs politically and in human lives — both the Algerian military and the electorate were ready for a return to some sort of normalcy, and Bouteflika seemed a natural choice to lead Algeria out of the violence. He was seen by the military as a weak civilian figure who could be easily controlled and viewed by the general population as being one of the revolutionaries who helped lead Algeria to freedom. Supported by the military, Bouteflika was elected to the presidency in 1999.

Bouteflika quickly proved that his decades of experience in Algeria's murky political environment had served him well. With similarities to the charismatic, dynamic President Boumediene, Bouteflika quickly set about implementing a charter for national reconciliation, helping the country move on after a decade of civil war. It also granted limited amnesties to Islamist militants who promised to lay down their arms, and Bouteflika oversaw the limited integration of Islamist parties into the political system. Algeria's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, known locally as Hamas, played a critical role in supporting the presidential alliance backing Bouteflika's re-election campaign in 2004. It also supported the constitutional change — the removal of previous term limits — that made possible Bouteflika's third presidential campaign in 2009.

After the military's efforts to eradicate the Islamists during the civil war, Bouteflika's emphasis on political inclusion proved to be a more effective means of containment. Most significantly, Bouteflika helped secure his own position against the ambitions of a military that sought to restrain him. He did this by empowering the nation's powerful intelligence services and pitting the prerogatives of the military and security establishments against each other. By positioning himself as the ultimate arbitrator in this competition, Bouteflika was able to further establish his credentials as a savvy and sophisticated political actor. 

Bouteflika has defined much of his presidency by operating just beyond the reach of Algeria's military, the traditional locus of power in Algerian politics. He has accomplished this by pursuing an aggressive foreign policy agenda and attempting to expand Algeria's traditionally protectionist economy. Looking forward, however, Algeria faces significant challenges: a looming succession crisis exacerbated by Bouteflika himself, simmering unrest and rising instability on nearly all of its borders.

No matter what happens after his stroke, Bouteflika represents a dying breed within Algeria. Dodging rumors of stomach cancer for years, he has already attended the funerals of three previous Algerian heads of state, all revolutionary contemporaries. After Bouteflika does eventually die, his position as Algeria's longest-serving head of state is unlikely to be matched by future leaders. Only time will tell, though, if Bouteflika's efforts at political integration and civilian control over the military will extend beyond his presidency.