Over the last few weeks—and surely in the weeks and months to come—speculation abounds about the effect recent events in Tunisia and Egypt will have on Morocco. After such dramatic occurrences, interregional comparisons are inevitable and this is not a bad thing if done in an informed, thoughtful way. (There’s an interesting perspective on this tendency to “compare” from this week’s La Vie Eco.) On the one hand, Morocco is neither Tunisia nor Egypt—most certainly in terms of leadership, political stability and the level of socio-economic engagement between civil society and the government. However, Morocco does not exist in a bubble and the incidents of its neighbors will (and should) bring about a heightened level of self-critique about the reforms underway in the country.
So, what makes the Moroccan case different and why should we expect that the response to the wave of reform coming from Tunis and Cairo won’t be met with the same chaos and disruption in Rabat? An insightful article on today’s “Congress Blog” in The Hill on the “Moroccan exception” tells us why. Good read, so check it out.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
