Morocco: The King's diplomacy for 25 years has been focused “on the recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara”

On July 30, 1999, in Morocco, Mohammed VI was crowned, succeeding his late father Hassan II. Deciphering the foreign policy of the kingdom since the twenty-five years of the sovereign’s reign with Pierre Vermeren, historian specializing in the Maghreb.

Pierre Vermeren: “It’s more than a notable change because, first, we are talking about a long period of 25 years during which a lot has happened, notably major events and international crises that have punctuated the reign. In 2001, the 2008 economic crisis and its aftermath, which were very harsh for North Africa between 2008 and 2010, the Algerian Hirak, the Moroccan Hirak, the war in Syria, the Arab Spring from 2011, and then Covid. All these crises, not to mention the Moroccan-Algerian crisis, have marked the reign and have required quick reactions from the monarchy and Moroccan diplomats. These events pushed them to break from all possible routines to go beyond and meet their partners. Hence, a dynamic was initiated. And I am not even talking about the recent events of this year, namely the Middle East crisis and the war in Gaza.

The changes thus involve a lot of activities to respond to crises as they happen and try to contain them, crises imposed by history. On the other hand, there is certainly a dynamic of tensions with several countries. Morocco already had a fairly open diplomacy towards all Western countries and all allies of the Western camp since Hassan II pursued a Cold War diplomacy. But now, we see that Morocco talks to all actors, be it major powers from the North and South, Russia, China of course, but also Middle Eastern and African actors. And we have had crises with many of them, including France and Spain, the United States, with strategies and tensions on certain issues since it is a very reactive diplomacy that uses crises as a means to achieve its ambitions.

Finally, we have a traveling king who has spent a significant part of his reign abroad during long stays, sometimes publicized, such as his tour of Latin America at the beginning of his reign or his long stays in Europe or Africa. Sometimes the king spends several months traveling, either staying with friends or on itinerant trips, and all this creates unprecedented characteristics in Moroccan diplomacy.

Can we say that the Western Sahara is at the heart of Moroccan foreign policy?

There is no doubt about it. That is to say, relations with Europe, the United Nations, and the United States, relations with Israel and Middle Eastern countries, relations with African countries, and of course, relations with Maghreb countries, are entirely dominated by this prism of Saharan policy which occupies the bulk of Moroccan diplomatic work. It is about gaining unconditional recognition of the Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which is the former Spanish Sahara that Mohammed VI’s father, Hassan II, incorporated into Moroccan territory starting in 1975 without international recognition. Mohammed VI’s policy in this domain, which is indeed essential, consists of getting it recognized by various partners.

It is necessary to force these partners to choose between Morocco and Algeria, with Algeria being the supporter of the Polisario, which it hosts on its territory in the Sahara, in Tindouf. It is necessary to compel international organizations, the UN, the African Union, and of course the major partners, primarily the Western ones, but also Morocco’s historical adversaries and Algeria’s allies in Africa and Asia. It requires meticulous work to seek out each one.

From this perspective, Morocco has undoubtedly scored points, which also explains the increased tensions with Algeria, which severed diplomatic relations with Morocco three years ago definitively. The level of crisis, therefore, has never been as high between the two neighbors.

What is Morocco’s position regarding its Arab partners since October 7?

It is important to recall that the King of Morocco is the President of the Al-Quds Committee, the Jerusalem Committee, a function that his father held and that he inherited, making him an official actor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hassan II always maintained secret, sometimes publicized, but overall secret personal relations, through mediators or diplomats, ad hoc or not, with the State of Israel. However, the Kingdom’s official policy was to support the Palestinian cause, albeit not as directly as other Arab countries since Hassan II always said that this conflict was very far away and, in a way, of little concern to Morocco.

His son wanted to improve relations with Israel from the outset. He created a Moroccan-Israeli liaison office at the beginning of his reign, which the various Gaza wars in the 2000s forced him to close. However, in the last months of Trump’s presidency, we had what were called the Abraham Accords under the auspices of the United States, which Morocco joined. These accords link the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, a country closely allied with Morocco.

Morocco joined these accords and made peace with Israel in exchange for Israel’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara. Thus, we saw nearly two years of intense cooperation between Morocco and Israel in various fields, including tourism and agricultural strategy.

The October 7, 2023 attack disrupted this agreement and forced Morocco to put this cooperation on hold, but without wanting to break it. As a result, compared to Algeria and Tunisia, there is a significant difference in approach to the conflict, with Morocco adopting a more moderate approach, similar to most Middle Eastern Arab countries that are not involved in this matter and do not fundamentally challenge Israeli policy, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates. The Abraham Accords have not been denounced by Sudan or Jordan either.

Thus, there is a more difficult approach, especially regarding public opinion, the so-called Arab street, which is very vocal against Israel. However, Arab state apparatuses, and in this respect, Morocco is quite in tune, are much more moderate, except for some states like Algeria or Tunisia, for example.”