We open this edition with a piece by the former president of Tunisia, Dr. Munsef Al Marzooqi, who explains his failed attempts to initiate a pathway towards Maghreb unity through what he calls “the five freedoms.” He makes a compelling argument that without establishing democracy no progress towards Maghreb unity will be possible.

Mohamed Bensaid Aït Idder’s article titled ‘The Maghreb: A Promise, A Dream, A Tragedy’ follows. A legendary Moroccan nationalist and opposition leader, and a founder of the Moroccan Liberation Army, Bensaid Aït Idder has been at the forefront of efforts to revive the Maghreb unity dream. In 2015, he secured the participation of representatives of political parties throughout the Maghreb, including the Polisario, for a symposium on promoting Maghreb unity, but at the last minute the Moroccan authorities torpedoed this initiative.

In his piece, Bensaid Aït Idder takes us through the early dreams and efforts to create a unified Maghreb, and argues that Maghrebian intellectuals and journalists must do more to create a discourse of unity that emphasizes connection and commonalities rather than divisions.  

Algerian scholar Professor Lahouari Addi guides us through the causes of the rift at the heart of divisions in the Maghreb, the conflict between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara, and argues that civil society must take up the baton and try to create dialogue and pathways forward where the authoritarian leaders in both Morocco and Algeria have failed.

Moroccan economist and civil society activist Fouad Abdelmoumni outlines the enormous economic costs for Algeria and Morocco and other Maghreb countries of the protracted Western Sahara conflict. “The days when rulers could command allegiance by maintaining costly conflicts are over,” he argues, adding that a solution to the conflict could help pave a way forward for the region economically.

Our closing article is written by Dr. Sid Amar Cheikhna, a Mauritanian scholar specializing in history and political science. He argues that the failure of regional integration lies in the absence of democracy and continuing authoritarian rule.

Cheikhna draws lessons from the European Union experience and argues that in a free and democratic environment creative solutions could be explored such as a confederation between Morocco and Western Sahara, or a confederation of all five Maghreb states.