What’s behind the declaration of the new Maghreb alliance?

Suddenly, more than a week after the end of the tripartite Carthage summit between the presidents of Algeria and Tunisia and the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, the Algerian News Agency announced that the summit, which culminated in the Carthage Declaration, was held to establish a new approach whereby the Maghreb area moves “from slogans to actions”. It was a “first step to establishing the North African Alliance, which Mauritania will one day join.”

The Algerian statement was keen to confirm that the new alliance, or rather the new tripartite regional bloc, was formed to compensate for “the announcement of the clinical death of the Arab Maghreb Union.” The statement did not hesitate to hold the Kingdom of Morocco responsible for the effective end of the latter, but did not specify the nature of this new bloc, its components, pillars, or anything other than that. Rather, it talked about the importance of its regional weight and strength as, “Neither the European Union nor the African Union can turn a blind eye to the aspirations of the three partners, given their geographical location and the resources they boast, and given the strength of this interconnected bloc. Not to mention the countries that interfere in the affairs of others, and that will not like this collective action that embodies sovereignty.” This was a clear reference to Morocco.

Any Arab step to build a true regional bloc among the Arab countries, whether in the west or east of the region, will have a positive regional impact, provided that it serves the interests of the Arab nations. This is unlikely according to current data based on the experiences of earlier blocs, and so it is difficult to count on the alliance that arose in Carthage as being a proactive regional alternative, given its lack of the elements and the necessary circumstances for this.

The meeting between Algeria, Tunisia and Libya was nothing more than a political manoeuvre pushed by Algeria with the aim of bothering Morocco

This arises from the hostility between the political leaders in Rabat and Algiers dating back to the 1960s. Hence, there was no clear alliance or even rapprochement strategy, whether on the political or economic level, to build a new regional alliance between the three countries, especially in light of the deteriorating conditions in each at various levels, with Tunisian President Kais Saied trying to search for an external saviour from the stagnation and lack of a clear horizon, which are defined by the internal situation of his country. This is in addition to the economic crisis that Tunisia is suffering from. Meanwhile, for years, Libya has been witnessing an armed conflict between foreign-backed parties, and it cannot really be effective in any regional bloc as long as the Tripoli-Benghazi division continues.

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It is difficult to place any regional step taken by Morocco or Algeria beyond the context of the rivalry between them. Each tries to exhaust the other and isolate it from the rest of the Arab world. The issue even affects the world of sport. It was great to see Moroccan football team RS Berkane travel to Algeria recently to play against USM Algiers in the semi-final of the CAF Confederation Cup. However, the match did not go ahead because the Moroccan team planned to wear shirts showing a map of Morocco that included Western Sahara, which Algeria believes is an independent republic. The Algerian authorities confiscated the shirts at the airport, so the match did not take place.

Ever since Algeria severed its diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021 and closed its air space to Moroccan aircraft, Algiers has been talking about “provocations by Morocco,” while Rabat complains of an “unjustified escalatory spirit” from the Algerian leadership, with various allegations exchanged through the media. Each blames the other for the strained relations between them.

The new tripartite bloc can be viewed as an Algerian response to Morocco’s Atlantic Initiative, which Rabat sponsored late last year and includes the African Sahel countries Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. Morocco’s goal is to form a new African bloc to build economic partnerships and development projects, as well as reach an understanding on the gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco, which is seen as compensation for cutting the Algerian gas pipeline to Spain via Morocco.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Arab blocs, whether in the Maghreb or the Mashriq, some of which got no further than declarations of intent, represent an enigma when compared with other regional blocs around the world. There isn’t much to speak about in terms of their performance and achievements while they exist. There may not be many other groups of neighbouring countries that share common elements, such as their economy, history, culture and language, as much as the Arab countries do, but that has not been reflected in the achievements of such blocs in terms of political integration or economic and trade cooperation. The European Union, for example, has few, if any, of the common elements that the Arab states have, but still has many achievements to boast about.

The problem lies in the nature of the Arab political systems. The Arab regimes focus on the narrow interests of their leaders, at the expense of the interests of the people, and they exist with an overwhelming lack of trust between each other, which reflects negatively on the Arab countries. They also refuse to accept any restrictions on their policies, positions and roles that might best serve the interest of the blocs and unions, under the pretext of preserving their own national sovereignty.

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Translated from  Al Arabi Al Jadid 7 May 2024

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.