Morocco: the key player providing stability to the Sahara-Sahel region
Despite the attempts of Abdelmadjid Tebboune's Algerian regime to obstruct and frustrate Morocco's stabilising regional role, the country continues to gain international recognition and support for its defence of peace and security and its role as a guarantor of stability in the region.
Morocco plays an important role as a stabilising pillar in the Euro-African region and in the conflictive Sahara-Sahel region. A role that is recognised by the international community and taken into account in the global fight against terrorism.
With its policy of peaceful neighbourliness, its African depth and its desire for the development and prosperity of the whole continent, Morocco not only presents itself as a guarantor of peace and stability in the region, but is also a very important player on the current geopolitical scene.
Morocco vs Algeria
Within the framework of the new neighbourhood policy launched by Morocco and based on sincerity, transparency and mutual respect, the country has continued to reach out to Algeria to the present day. Its objective is to build a united and prosperous Maghreb, far from the geopolitical considerations that have hindered this vision of unity for decades.
Following the model of the European Coal and Steel Community (the first European common market, created in 1951, and the origin of the European Union), King Hassan II had envisaged a common economic cooperation around the iron deposit in Gara Djebilet. A royal initiative that could have underpinned intra-Maghreb relations and contributed to the constitution of the Greater Maghreb.
Given the fundamental ideological differences between the Moroccan monarchy and the Algerian democratic and popular republic, the dynamic with Algeria, always described as ‘complex’, is historically characterised by reticence, mistrust and reserve; this prevents the achievement of an equal and fruitful partnership between the two parties.
In this sense, Morocco has demonstrated, thanks to the initiative of King Mohammed VI, its commitment to achieving peace and stability in the Maghreb, guaranteeing a pacified eastern neighbourhood, a participative democracy and advocating development as a necessary factor for the security of the Euro-African region.
On the contrary, the repercussions of Algeria's positions on Morocco's successful initiatives have reached as far as India. The country's leading newspaper, The Times of India, has devoted an article to the destabilising manoeuvres of the Algerian regime in an attempt to sabotage Morocco's efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.
The international community is clear about the role being played by Algeria, whose obsession is to torpedo the Kingdom's promising steps towards sustainable development and shared prosperity. In this international panorama, Algeria continues to be content with the role not only of gratuitous opposing rival but also of being a detrimental factor for the whole region.
With the Western Sahara issue as the regime's essential philosophy, Algeria seeks to carve out a place for itself on the regional chessboard by destroying what has been built and hindering Moroccan efforts towards unity and the defence of common interests.
Another example of Algerian interventionism is the case of Libya, a country marked by a prolonged civil war and political instability. While Morocco offers its support for it to become a strong and democratic country capable of contributing to the advancement of Maghreb integration, Algeria's support for destabilisation could complicate regional peace and cooperation.
Algeria is a reliable ally of Russia and has begun, after the fall of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, to evacuate its military bases in Syria and redeploy them in Libya, where Moscow has been supporting General Khalifa Haftar for years, in the east of the country. The strong Russian presence in the country could provoke a new geopolitical front between Russia and NATO.
The Sahara conflict
In the face of international support for the autonomy plan suggested by Morocco as a definitive solution to the Western Sahara conflict, recognised in particular by the United States and several European countries, there has been obstruction and sabotage from Algeria.
Thus, the Tebboune government did not hesitate to impose trade restrictions on its European partners, starting with Spain and France. Algiers sees Rabat as a regional rival to which it is unconditionally opposed and is turning to the Polisario Front to try to reduce Morocco's links with continental Africa through the Moroccan Sahara, given the international approval of the Atlantic Facade initiative.
However, Morocco's position in international politics is increasingly present and is taken into consideration in the foreign policy decisions of the world's major economic powers. More than 100 countries consider that the only and best solution for both parties in the Sahara conflict is the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007.
In this context, and following the example of its European and American partners, in particular the United States, France and Spain, Belgium has recently expressed its support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara. And also recently, following the opening of its Consulate General in Laayoune in January 2020, the position of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe has been reaffirmed by the minister in favour of the sovereignty of the Alawite Kingdom over the Southern Territories.
With regard to Moroccan foreign policy, African media have recognised King Mohammed VI's initiative to transform Dakhla into a continental centre, thus reinforcing Morocco's position as a catalyst for a united and prosperous Africa.
Partner of the defenders of stability
Morocco is considered a pillar of stability and a key player for Europe, in the face of the complex dynamics and geopolitical changes in the Mediterranean and North Africa. In this sense, the country's foreign policy advocates for security and peace, playing the role of stabiliser in the region, ready to cooperate with all partners who defend this stability.
The Maghreb country is characterised by its moderation and political stability, which makes it a responsible and reliable member of the international community. The royal initiative to give the Sahel countries access to the Atlantic Ocean is proof of Morocco's intention to achieve development and prosperity in the region.
Morocco is also working on the promotion and implementation of large-scale projects, such as the trans-African gas pipeline linking Nigeria with. A project that will contribute to European and African energy security.
As a leader in South-South cooperation and development in Africa, Morocco is endeavouring, at the level of the Arab Maghreb, to convince rival Libyan factions to reach a political agreement in order to restore stability in that war-torn country.
Permanently committed to the fight against terrorism in all its forms, the country has demonstrated its know-how and made a significant contribution to this war against regional terrorist networks that has spread to the Sahel region, which suffers at the hands of terrorism, mafia trafficking, separatist tendencies and quarrels over political and geostrategic positioning.