Moroccan Diplomacy after Independence Part 1

By Moulay Ali Elmghari

Morocco is a central state and an independent entity fully independent since the establishment of Moulay Idriss Ben Abdallah 788-793 AD The state of Adarasis and its departure from the rule of the Abbasid state, where King Yahya IV bin Idris extended to all the countries of the Maghreb.

One of the reasons for the centrality of Morocco's geopolitical location is in West Africa, overlooking Europe, and on the opposite bank of the American continent on the Atlantic Ocean, the geographical depth of the Islamic world to the west.

This site has enabled the Kingdom throughout its history to play a political and diplomatic role at the regional and international levels. This role is once again highlighted and absent, depending on the internal situation of the Kingdom and taking into consideration the regional and global circumstances.

In recent history, Morocco has not embarked on a policy of opening up and monitoring only once, while working on the domestic front and reforming the interests of the Moroccan nation and consolidating its ranks, both during the time of the late King Hassan II or under King Mohammed VI.

The internal factors in the Kingdom always have an effective role in determining external behavior towards various issues in the Arab, Islamic and international world.

 The Foreign Affairs Department of the Kingdom of Morocco since independence from the French occupation, of the functions of the Royal Institution under the chairmanship of King Mohammed V and Hassan II and Mohammed VI, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Morocco is the sovereign ministries that are due in its decisions and major fateful to the King, And the main concepts and strategies that safeguard the interests of the Kingdom, as for the mechanisms of implementation of these perceptions and strategies shared by the King with the elected government and parliament and the other actors of diplomatic missions abroad and parallel diplomacy, The case or interest to be dealt with

 Hassan II is the architect of the Moroccan foreign policy and its diplomacy and its general orientations. The late King showed remarkable diplomatic skills and international relations, starting with his relations with the presidents and leaders of the great powers. He also had strong relations with several influential foreign political parties in their countries. And its openness to the artistic, cultural, sports and media, intellectual and academic institutions. These relations and personal and official ties were employed by Hassan II in the interests of the Kingdom, strengthening its influence and defending its causes. Strategy, while maintaining balanced relations with the Western camp led by the United States and the eastern camp led by the Soviet Union.

Hassan II's foreign policy is to try to find a political balance in the Kingdom through the co-existence between the influential royal institution and the opposition political parties after the clash and great dispute in the 1970s and 1980s, which ended with the rotation government in February 1998, In its efforts to protect Moroccan interests and devote full time to the first national issue, "the Moroccan Sahara file".

For this crucial issue, Morocco withdrew from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1985 - Morocco as a founding member - after accepting the Frente POLISARIO in the organization, an imaginary entity without land and people in clear violation of the laws of the Organization.

A new era in Moroccan foreign policy followed by a focus on the bilateral relations in the African continent, the pursuit of an advanced status with the European Union countries, the strengthening of the Moroccan-American alliance and reaching a strategic alliance with the strengthening and strengthening of Moroccan-Arab relations, Spain and Algeria, who are subverting Morocco in the Moroccan Sahara file and adopting the cause of the alleged Sahrawi Republic and supporting it in all international institutions with all kinds of support.

 The Moroccan diplomacy was able to take the position of Hassan II from several levels, and the word of Morocco was heard and considered in several regional and international issues, until the death of Hassan II.