Morocco’s Africa Policy

Yousra Abourabi, Ph.D. (2016), is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the International University of Rabat. She has published a monograph as well as many papers on Morocco and African governance, including Maroc (De Boeck, 2019) and the current book in its French version (Brill, 2020). She is both a member of the ECOSOCC (African Union) and of the Global Campus for Human Rights.

• ForewordAbbreviationsIntroduction1 ‘Morocco takes the South’: Apollonian or Dionysian impulse?2 The Arab and African Worlds in the Study of International Relations3 A Constructivist Approach to Identity4 The Challenge of Multi-disciplinarity in the Study of Moroccan Foreign Policy5 Book Structure and Objectives1 The Genesis of an Africa Policy in Morocco: The Kingdom in Search of International Recognition1 Introduction2 Measuring Morocco’s Emergence in the Light of the New World Order: Africa’s Emergence in a ‘Multiplex’ World3 From the Ambition of Emergence to the Ambition of Power: The Development of the Kingdom’s International Relations4 The Discursive Construction of Morocco’s International Role Identity around the Concept of the ‘Golden Mean’5 Africa as the ‘New Frontier’2 The Historical Determinants of Morocco’s Diplomatic Interest in Africa1 Introduction2 History as an Objective Determinant of the Geopolitical Order: Allal al-Fassi’s ‘Greater Morocco’ Project3 First Steps towards Building African Multilateralism4 From the Sand War to the Betrayal of the OAU: The Moroccan Western Sahara, an African Problem5 The Search for Leadership in a Regional Union with Libya: A Failed Alternative6 The Cold War Kingdom versus French Power in Africa7 ‘Renewed Partnership’ and a New Policy in Africa at the End of the Cold War8 Ceasefire and Peace Plan in the Aftermath of the Cold War: The Birth of Voice Diplomacy3 The Making of the Africa Policy: Royal Pre-eminence and Diplomatic Mobilisation1 Introduction2 The King’s Style in Foreign Policy: A Two-Tiered Role3 Foreign Affairs: A ‘Ministry of Sovereignty’4 Modernisation and Professionalisation of the Diplomatic Apparatus at the Service of an African strategy5 The Specialisation of Diplomacy in the Service of a Golden-Mean Role Identity: Promoting Interculturalism and Trilateralism4 A Framework for Representing Regional Integration1 Introduction2 The Defence of Territorial Integrity: A Political Framework for Defining the Entourage3 Algeria and the Polisario Front: Public Historical hostis4 South Africa and Nigeria: Geopolitical Adversaries or Future Continental Allies?5 Shared Perceptions of an Algiers–Abuja–Pretoria anti-Moroccan Axis6 The Representation of a ‘Natural Extension’ Based On the ‘Historical Constants’ of the Kingdom7 The French Character of the Kingdom’s Africa Policy: The Erroneous Hypothesis of a ‘pré carré gigogne’8 The Moroccan Character of the Kingdom’s Africa Policy: ‘Mohammed VI the African’, a Manifestation of the Royal Style in Africa5 A Legitimising Framework for Regional Integration1 Introduction2 The Kingdom Is African: The Inscription of Africanness in the Diplomatic Framework3 The Kingdom’s Solidarity: Integrating the Normative Framework of South–South Cooperation and Global Security4 The Kingdom Is Moderate: The Valorisation of a Political-Religious Legacy through the Definition of a Golden-Mean Islam6 Africa as a Field of Expression for an Indirect Strategy1 Introduction2 Fifteen Years of Offensive Bilateralism in the Service of a Sectorisation of Cooperation3 The Acquisition of Material Resources through Trilateral Cooperation4 Circumventing the Absence from the AU through Parallel Multilateral Diplomacy5 Morocco’s Return to the AU: The End of the Indirect Strategy?7 Constructing Diplomatic Levers of Action to Promote a Role Identity1 The Subordination of the Economic Tool to Political Imperatives2 Sectoral Investment Policies under the Banner of South–South Cooperation3 Promoting State Identity through Nation Branding and Intangible Capital4 Accelerating Trade to Achieve Regional Integration: The Race to Maritime Transport5 Influence Diplomacy: The Role of Cultural and Religious Levers6 The Institutionalisation of Exchanges with trans-Saharan Sufi Confraternity Networks7 The Spreading of a Golden-Mean Islam in Africa through Religious Training8 The Consequences of Morocco’s Africa Policy: Between Relative Gains and Geopolitical Transformations1 Introduction2 The Effects of Cultural and Religious Diplomacy in the Development of Migration to Morocco3 Towards a Mix of Foreign and Domestic Policies: The Example of Climate and Environmental Policy4 Enshrining the End of a MENA/sub-Saharan Africa Divide: A Socially Constructed Regionalist ProjectConclusion—Morocco: A Median PowerAppendix 1: State Visits of Mohammed VI Abroad, 2000–2016Appendix 2: The King’s Speeches, 1999–2015: StatisticsAppendix 3: FDI to Morocco (1) and (2)Appendix 4: Map of ‘Greater Morocco’Appendix 5: Countries that Have Withdrawn Their Recognition of the RASDAppendix 6: Map of Diplomatic Postures Regarding the Status of Moroccan Western SaharaAppendix 7: Export of French War Material to Morocco (2008–2014)Appendix 8: Moroccan FDI in Africa (1)Appendix 9: Legitimisation Framework for the Africa Policy: Example of a Document on South–South CooperationAppendix 10: The Road Linking Morocco to West AfricaAppendix 11: Moroccan FDI in Africa (2)Appendix 13: AU Motion of 28 States for the Suspension of the RASDAppendix 13: Trade with AfricaAppendix 14: Transport Networks in AfricaAppendix 15: Shipping Lines, Morocco–AfricaBibliographyIndex