Moroccan foreign policy raises a series of questions concerning its effectiveness and its ability to manage the challenging neighborhood imposed by geopolitical shifts, whether involving regional interactions or major international transformations that have affected the entire international system.
Indeed, regional dynamics have traditionally informed occasional and necessary shifts in Moroccan diplomacy, enhancing the country’s performance, presence, and adjusting its major orientations, along with establishing innovative new frameworks for its management. This is evident in the handling of relations with Algeria, the management of the most recent Moroccan-Spanish crisis, tensions with Germany and France, as well as the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and other notable milestones in Morocco’s international relations.
Looking at the content of King Mohammed VI’s speech at the Morocco-Gulf summit held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 20, 2016, it becomes clear that new thresholds have been set by the decision-makers in Moroccan foreign policy. The North African kingdom has especially adopted unprecedented approaches in economic policy diversification, gradually but responsibly drifting to new destinations such as Russia, China, and India, while maintaining traditional ones with the European Union and the United States.
On the front of political or diplomatic engagement on the Western Sahara question, the new approach towards strategic partners of the Kingdom is to consider all issues comprehensively.
Now Morocco conditions normal relations with other countries on a clear stance regarding “the Moroccan Sahara cause,” as King Mohammed VI stressed in his speech commemorating the 69th anniversary of the King and the People’s Revolution on August 20, 2022. “The National cause is the lens through which Morocco views the world, a clear and simple criterion measuring the sincerity of friendships and the effectiveness of partnerships,” the monarch said.
The decision-making in Morocco’s foreign policy as practiced by the King in his constitutional capacity, with new methodologies and perspectives, has reflected on the performance of other institutional actors, notably the executive through the foreign policy implementation apparatus as a whole, specifically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and African Cooperation, and Moroccan expatriates. In addition, the Moroccan legislative apparatus has emerged as a significant partner in embodying the effectiveness of foreign policy objectives.
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Whether through declared positions or actions regarding foremost national causes, particularly during certain episodes that have shaped Morocco’s relationship with the European Union, elected Moroccan representatives have precisely embraced the role of the parliament as a constitutional institution interacting with major national goals alongside the executive performance.
Economic actors, political parties, academics, as well as ordinary Moroccans around the world, have seen their roles increasingly focused on international affairs and interacting with national causes, particularly in supporting the Moroccan proposal of autonomy to resolve the conflict over Morocco’s Sahara. The 2011 Constitution, which defines the major choices for the country’s foreign policy and priorities, represents Morocco’s reliance on constitutional commitment as an effective reference and supportive of diplomatic orientations.
Moreover, King Mohammed VI’s historic visits to influential countries have radiated support for Morocco’s foreign policy positions. In this sense, the King has helped achieve diplomatic goals through bilateral summits with many kings, presidents, and princes of friendly and brotherly countries.
In addition, Morocco’s qualitative and assertive participations in various multilateral summits and within governmental international organizations, mainly within the United Nations and the African Union, have boosted its standing in regional affairs and cemented its diplomatic momentum on the Western Sahara question.
Moroccan foreign policy has contributed to supporting many initiatives and duties at the international level, whether related to exempting several African countries from debts owed to the Kingdom or in maintaining peace and international security. During the COVID crisis, the kingdom played a central role in activating international cooperation by standing alongside several countries to face the repercussions of the pandemic.
On the front of strategic diplomacy, meanwhile, Rabat has crucially positioned itself as an initiator of continental and international visions through a wide range of initiatives seeking to establish the foundations for Atlantic-facing African countries and unifying their efforts in their shared quest for economic prosperity and strategic independence. In a speech commemorating the 48th anniversary of the Green March on November 6, 2023, King Mohammed VI announced an initiative aimed at enabling Sahel countries to access the Atlantic Ocean.
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Since joining the African Union in January 2017, Morocco has effectively contributed to enhancing the continent’s negotiating position on the global stage, especially economically. As a result, the kingdom has emerged as a continental leader and has gained its place in African discussions on various issues and challenges. Now being a trendsetter in African affairs, the kingdom has notably expressed its commitment to humanitarian solidarity values demonstrated through various models in places affected by natural disasters, crises resulting from tensions, wars, etc. Regarding global migration, it’s necessary to recall African leaders choosing King Mohammed VI as a pioneer for the African Union’s agenda on the management of migration.
In addition, Morocco is committed to the principles of justice, lawfulness, legitimacy, and peace, and to the just and righteous causes, first of all the Palestine cause, through the activities of the Al-Quds Committee and its operative arm, represented by the Beit Mal Al-Quds Agency, which is a clear demonstration of the Moroccan foreign policy commitment to the principles of justice, lawfulness, legitimacy, and peace.
Regarding the achievements of the national cause, it’s clear that the country’s foreign policy has developed an offensive, robust, and impactful diplomacy in defending the Moroccanness of Western Sahara and fixing its handling and management at the international level. Among its prominent features are the political, diplomatic, and legal gains represented by consular representations of over 30 countries in the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, as well as the recognition by several countries of the kingdom’s sovereignty over all its southern provinces, foremost among them the U.S. recognition in late 2020.
In addition to the U.S., the GCC countries, Spain, Germany, and France have all announced their support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, hailing the Moroccan proposal as the most serious and credible effort to find a genuine and lasting solution to the territorial dispute.
Moroccan foreign policy under King Mohammed VI has been characterized by “ambition and clarity,” as the King himself noted in a speech commemorating the Green March in 2018.
In fact, clarity and ambition coupled with boldness in addressing global issues of interest have been the hallmarks of Morocco’s strategic vision in its commitment to supporting stronger international cooperation on a wide range of pressing concerns.
Some of these concerns that have shaped Morocco’s rising profile on the global and continental stages include the fight against global terrorism and emerging security risks, as well as the push for bolder international efforts to address environmental issues, migration, and issues related to human rights. Taken together, all of these efforts constitute a kind of victory for Morocco’s reputation and image of itself as a pioneer in the South-South momentum, an assertive defender of its own interests, and a trusted advocate for African causes.
