“Moroccan diplomacy is extremely effective because it has managed to position itself on a global level,” says Alain Juillet, former number 2 of the DGSE.

Invited to Space (live talk) organized by the political channel “Tarik Talk” on Xthe former number 2 in French foreign security spoke, masterfully, on a battery of topics, headed by the Moroccan Sahara, diplomacy and Morocco’s relations with France and Algeria.

“Morocco, a kingdom dating back to the year 900”

Asked at all costs to describe the nature of the current relationship between Morocco and Algeria and to give a general overview of the history of the two countries, Juillet was categorical: “Relations between Morocco and Algeria have always been a bit strained. That’s the least we can say. Morocco is a kingdom that dates back to the year 900 and controlled the area from Gibraltar to the border with Senegal. It is a kingdom that had its own characteristics. Next to it was an area that has always been a place of movement and passage through which we saw the Arabs, the Turks who occupied Algeria for hundreds of years, and the French! Therefore, there was a lot of mixing and movement in Algeria, which is not the case in Morocco, which is a completely different country.»

Second and not least, Algeria is not, ultimately, “a village story“, he recalls and adds that “it was built during the war of independence against the French. And this is the frame of reference she uses today. She doesn’t have a story like the one Moroccans can tell.“.

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Alain Juillet, who has chaired the Club of Corporate Security Directors (CDSE) since 2011, also talks about the contrast between the two countries, from an economic point of view. To this end he asks: “how could Morocco, which is not a rich country and is not lucky enough to have oil and gas, have the economic success it has today, while next to it Algeria, which is an extremely rich country thanks to oil and gas, is in a particularly bad economic position and forced is to import food and agricultural materials necessary to feed its population“.

Lack of vision and direction in Algeria

“This is due to problems of management, direction, mid-term and long-term vision“, he explains, pointing out that in Algeria, “Since independence, the existing system has had only one goal: to stay in power. We know this at the level of politicians and soldiers, who have acquired their wealth and have no desire to lose it. It is a system monopolized by the elite that was put in place after independence and could have remained. As long as there is a team, Algeria will not have a chance to achieve the normal development of its people.

“It is worrying to see the current state of Algeria, which was the richest country in North Africa», he regrets.

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Asked about the role of Moroccan diplomacy and the achievements it has been able to achieve in recent years, Juillet could not be more pragmatic: “There is style and efficiency in diplomacy. I think that Moroccan diplomacy is extremely effective because it has managed to position itself on a global level. Morocco occupies a special place compared to all other countries in the region. There has been an undeniable diplomatic success in the relations that exist with the United States, the Middle East, the signing of the Abraham Agreement by Morocco, as well as the rapprochement with Spain and Portugal, which is rich in the future, not forgetting the development of Africa. Morocco which is exemplary.»

Moroccan Sahara is “undisputed”

“It must be clearly said that the Kingdom is replacing France in many countries of Francophone Africa. And before diplomacy, there is a medium- and long-term political vision carried by the King of Morocco, because it is he who gives the orientations that the diplomats managed to put to music», he continued in the same tone.

Regarding the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, Juillet believes that we “touches on the essential point of the Moroccan vision of the future“. According to him, “The Moroccan Sahara is not only a platform for development, but also a platform going south. From the south of Morocco, all of French-speaking Africa is affected. And the king was right, because this is his strategy for the future development of the country towards Africa. This is an element we do not discuss“.