Current Developments in Morocco

The Kingdom of Morocco, which sits at a crossroads between Europe and Africa, has had to navigate many challenges since it became an independent country. But the ascension of King Mohammed VI in 1999 has brought a new era of both political and economic liberation to the country.

The kingdom has enjoyed relative stability since gaining independence and though the state was characterised by a strong monarchy in the past, the current government has put in place anti-corruption measures among its civil servants and professionalised the military.

Rabat has also built better relationships with international aid organisations as its military and civilian administrations have noticeably improved in recent years. It has increased its legitimacy among Moroccans and therefore is better able to provide services and enforce tax collection and other activities essential to the functioning of a modern state.

Another instance in which Morocco differs from many states in North Africa and the Middle East is that, rather than driving political Islamists underground where they are sure to radicalise, it has allowed them to enter the political realm and participate in parliament. The principal Islamic political party, the PJD, has styled itself as something close to the Christian Democrats in Germany.
All of these facts have allowed Morocco to play its position at a crossroads between Europe, Africa and the Middle East into one of strength.

The kingdom has been declared a “major non-NATO ally” of the US, and has won US and French support in its claims on Moroccan/Western Sahara, a large swathe  of land in which rebels have been fighting the Moroccan government since 1975. President of France Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed a Mediterranean Union of 16 North African, Middle Eastern and European states, an idea Morocco fully supports as a means of increasing its business ties with Europe.