King Mohammed VI and President Barack Obama meet at the White House on Friday, Nov. 22, 2013 (Photo credit: The White House, MAP)
During the week of November 18, the king of Morocco was in Washington D.C. and New York City on an official visit to further long-standing relations between Morocco and the United States, court U.S. foreign investment in Morocco, and seek U.S. backing for Moroccan claims in the Western Sahara conflict.
While in Washington, King Mohammed VI met with Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and was received by President Obama at the White House.
But, in the United States, the king’s trip to the country flew under the radar. Amidst coverage of the U.S. Senate’s “Nuclear Option”, amending the filibuster rules on presidential judicial nominees, the interim agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1, and commemoration of the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the king’s visit was overshadowed.
His reticence to speak to the American press did not help the situation. Moroccan daily Demain Online reported that Mohammed VI asked the White House to cancel its customary press conference for visiting heads of state.
During his last visit to the United States in 2004, the king was received by former president George W. Bush and appeared quite measured, even charming, as he spoke in French to the White House press corps.
It is no secret, though, that Mohammed VI is quite the reclusive, private individual. Unlike his predecessor and father, King Hassan II, a charismatic master orator, Mohammed VI has rarely granted interviews to the press.
The last interview the king gave was to Time magazine shortly after his ascension to the throne in 2000. In the interview, the king spoke of his reform agenda for a prosperous and democratic Morocco. Since then, the monarch has shown significant antipathy toward the media.
Nevertheless, in failing to speak to the U.S. press, the king missed a golden opportunity to make the case for Morocco’s interests at the international level.
Recently, one of the main sources of concern for Morocco has been the sustained public relations campaign launched by the Sahrawi rebels of the POLISARIO Front (a Spanish acronym for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia al-Hamra and Rio de Oro), Algeria, and several human rights organizations to highlight Morocco’s human rights violations in the Western Sahara.
The royal visit also came amidst a new public spat between Morocco and Algeria, sparked by remarks made by Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika that the UN should include human rights monitoring as part of its mission in the Western Sahara.
Morocco responded to the Algerian comments by recalling its ambassador in Algiers, while demonstrators in Casablanca removed the Algerian flag from the country’s consulate in the city.
During “Green March” celebrations of November 6th, observing the 38th anniversary of Morocco’s disputed annexation of the Western Sahara, Mohammed VI delivered a vociferous speech to his domestic audience.
In this speech, he addressed in strong terms reports by non-governmental organizations on Morocco’s human rights violations in the Western Sahara. The king also scolded Algeria for criticizing Morocco’s human rights record while neglecting its own troubling domestic human rights situation.
The king could and should have used his U.S. trip to articulate Morocco’s position on the Western Sahara conflict to the international press. He should have addressed issues regarding the freedom of the press, the heavy-handed actions of Morocco’s security forces in the Western Sahara, and possible avenues toward creating a lasting solution to the conflict.
It is, in fact, here that the king’s apprehensions may lie. Mohammed VI must certainly have been worried about U.S. journalists asking tough questions about the imprisonment of journalist Ali Anouzla, human rights in the Western Sahara, and socio-economic stagnation in the country.
Still, Morocco cannot afford to boycott the American press, especially since the king maintains all powers over foreign policy and is the chief architect of Moroccan diplomacy.
Morocco may not be considered key to U.S. foreign policy in the same way as other regional juggernauts, like Saudi Arabia, Israel, or Egypt. Nevertheless, since the Arab uprisings, security concerns in the Sahel region make Morocco strategically integral to a larger regional framework of cooperation against the threat of radical Islamism.
The Maghreb (cradle of the Arab uprising) and Sahel are undergoing rapid changes. Morocco must position itself within the thick of any discussions on the security and strategic future of the region.
While continuing to press for Morocco’s interests through back channels, the king must be the country’s chief public relations officer advancing those interests. It is a role heads of state have increasingly assumed in this globalized world of conventional and social media lobbying.
Traditional lobbying on Capitol Hill and at the White House is insufficient. In a representative democracy, like the United States, the public must be won over even on foreign policy issues.
During his U.S. trip, the Moroccan king’s silence may have been construed as aloofness or, at worst, royal disdain toward a vital vehicle of persuasion in the public sphere. Either way, Morocco’s interests may be in jeopardy if the monarchy continues its sphinx-like silence.
*Mohamed Daadaoui is Associate Professor of Political Science at Oklahoma City University. He is the author of “Moroccan Monarchy and the Islamist Challenge: Maintaining Makhzen Power” (Palgrave 2011) He is also the author of Maghreb Blog.