An analytical piece by Swedish writer and journalist Nathan Shachar, published in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, dissects Morocco's Makhzen system. Shachar's article focuses on the decision-making circles and security agencies surrounding King Mohammed VI. It notes Rabat's methods in managing its relations with the European Union, France, and Spain, particularly concerning the Western Sahara issue. Shachar's analysis reveals a carefully orchestrated strategy of influence.
The Makhzen's Inner Circle
The Makhzen is described as a political system concentrating power within the royal palace and a narrow circle of close associates. This system, as described by Shachar, is characterized by its centralized authority. Political parties and institutions are considered to play limited roles in a plurality viewed as theatrical, suggesting a facade of democratic processes. Security agencies central to this system include the General Directorate for National Territory Surveillance (DGST), external intelligence (DGED), and the Second Bureau of the Moroccan Armed Forces. These agencies form a key part of the state's apparatus for maintaining control and projecting influence. Abdellatif Hammouchi leads the DGST, a key figure within this powerful network. Fouad Ali El Himma, a close associate of King Mohammed VI, is described as a 'shadow man' whose influence extends to security and strategic decision-making circles, indicating his significant, albeit often discreet, role in the kingdom's governance. Criticism directed at this ruling circle is considered risky, with Moroccan journalists having faced prosecution and imprisonment, showing the system's intolerance for dissent.
Tools of Influence and Leverage
Morocco's management of relations with the European Union, France, and Spain often employs a strategy involving double messages, pressure, threats, and unexpected moves to secure concessions. This policy is designed to keep its European partners off balance and responsive to its demands. Migration serves as a significant instrument of this pressure, particularly in its dealings with Spain, where the prospect of increased migrant flows can be used as leverage. This approach has enabled Morocco to obtain substantial funding from the EU, ostensibly for 'border protection,' effectively monetizing its control over migration routes.
Trade relations with Europe are key for the Moroccan economy, providing another point of interdependence that can be exploited. Beyond these, more advanced pressure tactics have been deployed, including the 'Pegasus' spyware program, which has been used to access the phones of political figures and journalists. Spanish political officials' phones were among those reportedly penetrated by the Pegasus program, demonstrating the extent of these sophisticated influence operations. The Makhzen system utilizes a broad array of pressure tools, encompassing migration, trade, border control, security cooperation, and espionage. This system is described as prioritizing pressure over persuasion and blackmail over genuine partnership, employing migration and espionage to advance its political agenda, rather than relying on traditional diplomatic engagement.
Borders as a Political Weapon
Securing control over Western Sahara is described as the ultimate goal, with Ceuta and Melilla acting as additional leverage in Morocco's influence strategy with Spain and the European Union. The tensions observed in Ceuta and Melilla, alongside border crises and migrant flows, are presented as components of Rabat's broader influence strategy against Madrid and the EU. The 2021 Ceuta crisis and rising tensions between Rabat and Madrid are linked to Morocco allegedly allowing a significant influx of migrants towards Ceuta. This action was reportedly intended as a pressure message to the Spanish government, noting the direct link between border management and political objectives. Nathan Shachar described Morocco's easing of border controls with Ceuta as part of a recurring punitive pattern in its relationship with Spain, indicating a deliberate and repeated use of this tactic.
Broader Geopolitical Aims
The primary objective for the Makhzen involves securing Moroccan control over Western Sahara. This ambition underpins many of its foreign policy maneuvers and pressure tactics. Nathan Shachar stated to Swedish radio that Morocco can repeatedly use borders to pressure Spain and the EU, linking this strategy directly to the occupation of Western Sahara and the broader goal of international recognition for its claims. The system is characterized as betting on pressure over persuasion, blackmail over partnership, and using migration and espionage to impose its political agenda, ultimately aiming to solidify its position on the disputed territory.