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.
