Julio Crespo MacLennan is a historian specialising in international relations and a writer. He has published seven books, has lectured in more than 30 countries and has also participated in various international forums. He first specialised in modern Spanish history as a member of the Oxford School of Historians. Subsequently, he focused on comparative imperial history, the legacy of Europe in the world and the history of liberalism and democracy.
His most recent book ‘How Europe shaped the modern world’ (2018) was critically acclaimed and was recently published in China. The former vice-president of the European Union Association of National Cultural Institute (EUNIC) and former director of the Cervantes Institutes in London and Istanbul is currently working on the history of democracy from Antiquity to the 21st century.
Atalayar had the opportunity to talk to Julio Crespo MacLennan, on the occasion of the event ‘Maghreb Facing the Challenges and Opportunities of the 21st Century’, to analyse the important dimension that Morocco currently has as an important axis in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
How could the Sahara autonomy plan help in the consolidation of peace and stability in the Maghreb and the development of the Mediterranean?
On the Sahara issue, there are several challenges; I hope that this will go well for the Moroccan cause and above all that it will help in the long run to resolve the conflict with Algeria; although at the moment the situation is difficult. The United States, as a great ally, took a very important step with its support for Morocco’s territorial claims, which is the turning point. It is fundamental, and so is Spain.
Morocco’s initiative is important in guaranteeing stability and development in the region, which is very important, but then there are the great challenges of the 21st century that influence all countries and the geopolitical landscape in general.
What challenges will Morocco face in the struggle for its territorial integrity on its way to convincing more countries of the legitimacy of its claim?
Morocco is indeed fighting for its territorial integrity and this is the normal and legitimate thing to do; there are also the great global challenges that can take Morocco much further and make it the leader of Africa.
It is the gateway to Africa and the axis between Africa and the Mediterranean, between the Mediterranean world and the Atlantic world, which can elevate Morocco internationally in an extraordinary way. The key is to play in these three scenarios in which Morocco is unique because no other African country has these three dimensions: Africa, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
Given the challenges of the 21st century, I believe that the relationship with the European Union will be very important in meeting these challenges. Africa is of interest to the European Union; how it is in its interest that Morocco evolves into a key producer and manufacturer in the Atlantic area.
We have experienced an important phenomenon, since the 1990s, in which China has taken off as a great power and has become a world factory, and at this moment, many great powers (the United States or the EU) are asking if we can continue like this.
Producing locally is the solution. We realised, in the pandemic, how dangerous it is to depend on production that is too far away geographically; that has led many to imbalances. I believe that one way to rebalance the Mediterranean area between Europe and Africa is precisely for Morocco to become an essential manufacturer of manufactures. That is one of my ideas of Morocco for the next three decades; I have another, which is that Morocco must be a cultural and scientific power and it has the assets to become that as the leader of the Arab world and also the most open country in Africa to Europe.
Julio Crespo MacLennan
You have followed Morocco’s efforts in your continent: investments in various economic sectors and ambassador of moderate Islam to ensure peace and stability in various African countries. How do you assess these efforts of the Kingdom?
I think this is very remarkable, it is interesting because you see Morocco’s growing role in Africa in different sectors. You have to go back to 1945 with the Casablanca Accords, where Morocco is already leading and saying: ‘We want to lead Africa in this new era of decolonisation and post-war Africa’. We are witnessing how Morocco has been opening up and becoming a hub for the economies of many of these countries (with a total of 30) where several Moroccan companies (banks, insurance, telecommunication and OCP…etc.) have settled.
I think it is very positive to see Morocco playing such an interesting role and what you have said about moderate Islamism; in an era where there is a lot of fanaticism worldwide and because there has to be an understanding between different cultures and different religions and, in this sense, Morocco has also been an example.
We have seen how Morocco has taken several initiatives and made many efforts to maintain good neighbourliness with Algeria, but in vain. How do you see the Algerian position in this context?
I think Algeria’s position seems to me to be intransigent and uncooperative in that sense and it needs to change, because Algeria has had many privileges since it gained its independence.
It is extraordinary how it has managed to have a territory that is the largest in Africa and yet it has always had conflicts with all its neighbours. In this sense, I believe that the Sahara issue should be seen as a compensation to Morocco that somehow leads to peace between the two countries, which is in the interests of both countries and the region as a whole.
Of course, right now I don’t see much prospect of resolving this conflict, but the most important thing is to maintain the dialogue and to think about whether anything is useful. Since we launched the process of political and economic integration of the European Union, it has gone through a very bad time in which we were coming out of a world war in which the hatred between European nations was enormous, the hatred between the French and Germans in the 1940s was greater than the hatred between Algerians and Morocco. This led us to think that we have to overcome these problems to achieve an integration that in the end will strengthen us all. This is an example that I think should be taken into account.
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Publish date : 2024-10-15 07:00:00
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