Sharp differences between Algeria and Morocco have surfaced in recent months, which have taken multiple facades of tug-of-war, including what is diplomatic, represented in Algeria’s announcement of severing its official relations with Morocco on one side and the withdrawal of ambassadors, then preventing Morocco from using Algerian airspace for civil and military aircraft over Either way, these measures taken, and the discourse circulating in the media from both sides in Algeria and Morocco further deepens the gap between two peoples and two countries that unite them more than what separates them. Indeed, the escalation of the conflict misses broad prospects for cooperation for the two countries, which will inevitably reflect on the renaissance and progress of North Africa as a whole, and avoid the scourge of stability. Which characterizes the region, and this makes the question about the motives that made the conflict that was hidden come out into the open a legitimate matter, as well as critical consideration of its dimensions and prospects in the Maghreb region.

Morocco was the most affected by colonialism in its geographical map, which was amputated, whether from the eastern side, where France annexed its eastern desert to Algeria at the time, or in its southern provinces, especially the country of Chinguetti, a colonial policy whose purpose was to dwarf Morocco in a geographical spot semi-isolated from the African depth Which was a source of threat to colonial Europe, not only at the present moment, but since the Islamic conquest of Andalusia, through the Almoravids and the Almohads.

The origin of conflict and the danger of separation

In fact;

The state of alert and the declared measures, which resembles the existence of a state of war between the two countries in its roots, is not new, but rather old differences since the sand war in 1963, and basically presented the artificial problem “Moroccan Sahara” to fragment Morocco into smaller entities, and in the lowest cases in order to exhaust it with the cause of its unity. dirt and keep it preoccupied with the issue of the desert.

Moroccan and Algerian memory retain forms of joint struggle against colonialism. In fact, Morocco formed a support for Algeria in its revolution, as confirmed by many historical facts and documents, so that the eastern Moroccan cities were; And the city of Oujda is basically a haven for the leaders of liberation and a center for the launch of mobilization and support for the Algerian revolution in various forms. There were no sharp differences between Morocco and Algeria, whether at the level of social fabric, intermarriage relations, kinship and culture, or at the political level and resistance to colonialism, since Emir Abdelkader to the Liberation Revolution The Moroccan Sultan Muhammad V refused to settle the borders in the eastern desert with France, as it will be done with the Algerian brothers after the liberation, given the common concern and the unity of the battle against the colonizer, as any Moroccan-French settlement of the borders at that time would have given legitimacy to the French colonization of Algeria and would harm Algeria’s struggle in its liberation path.

This unitary path was scratched after the independence of Algeria and the choice of each of the two countries to be located at one of the two international poles at the time, and this made southern Morocco, that is, the Moroccan Sahara in the context of its independence from Spanish colonialism, become an entry point for a conflict that will extend to the present moment, by providing the separatist Polisario Front with equipment and weapons By the organized regional regimes in the Eastern Alliance, the “Soviet Union.” Since then, the Algerian political system has continued to provide various forms of support to the Polisario Front under the name of self-determination and decolonization, while history reveals something else.

Morocco was the most affected by colonialism in its geographical map, which was amputated, whether from the eastern side, where France annexed its eastern desert to Algeria at the time, or in its southern provinces, especially the country of Chinguetti, a colonial policy whose purpose was to dwarf Morocco in a geographical spot semi-isolated from the African depth Which was a source of threat to colonial Europe, not only at the present moment, but since the Islamic conquest of Andalusia, through the Almoravids and the Almohads.

The Spanish imagination still retains, in part, the fears stemming from memory towards Morocco in North Africa, especially since pending issues may be raised on the negotiating table if Morocco acquires a force that qualifies it, and I mean the issue of Ceuta, Melilla and the colonial islands, and therefore keeping the issue of the Sahara in dispute. Algeria’s support for the Polisario Front is in fact underlining a colonial tendency that works to weaken and dismantle Morocco, and any effort in this direction directly or indirectly serves colonialism. As for the argument of decolonization in relation to the Sahara, it is nothing more than a legacy of a political discourse dating back to the Cold War. It is used to achieve narrow political interests and gains, while reality and history implement them.

The pursuit in this direction is a tendency to plant the fuse of disintegration in the entire region, and the most dangerous of which is to sow hatred between the peoples of the two countries, especially since there are narratives in the political discourse that remained hidden and came out into the open, and the tension became unusually exposed, since the Guergarat incident and the American recognition of the Moroccan Sahara. , so that the agitation in the attitudes of the Algerian political and military leaders increased, and this generated a counter-reaction in Morocco regarding the Kabylie region, in response to Hajjaj, as expressed by Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani at the time.This means that Morocco's raising of the Kabylie problem was intended to warn of the danger of secession supported by Algeria in southern Morocco, and not with the aim of political adoption of the issue, in an attempt to dissuade the Algerian decision-maker to avoid supporting the Polisario Front, so that the pluralism that characterizes North African societies could become a factor of division. And fragmentation is not only in Morocco, but also in Algeria, which makes the discourse of unity an element of strength for the countries of the region, while fragmentation is an element of weakening.

The crisis and its dimensions

The events of Guerguerat that took place on November 13, 2020, on the borders of the Moroccan Sahara, and the subsequent American recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over its desert and Morocco’s investment in that were the direct cause of inflaming the situation and pushing the tension that was hidden and controlled within certain limits to come out in convulsive statements here and there. This indicates that the relationship between the two neighboring countries has entered a new turning point that may have negative consequences.

In fact, the Guerguerat events were not ordinary in terms of their dimensions and given the strategic geographical location occupied by the region as Morocco's gateway to Africa, which explains the Moroccan intervention, and to remind of the event, elements of the Polisario Front entered through the buffer zone between the Mauritanian-Moroccan border, to set up tents in The crossing point linking Morocco to the African depth, and this prompted Morocco to intervene to disperse the sit-in and remove the tents after the United Nations was briefed on what is happening on a site that is an artery for the economic and commercial life of Morocco, and a bridge linking it to the African countries, the countries in which the Moroccan economic and political expansion has expanded since its return to the union Africa, which also constitutes a motive for the intensification of the conflict.

What happened was not just removing tents on the ground, but blocking the possibility of entering the Atlantic Ocean, and linking Morocco to its borders with Mauritania, which means getting rid of all the disturbances that might come to it from there, and ending the dream of the so-called “Sahrawi Arab Republic”, along The extension of the buffer zone, starting from Tindouf, which is located inside Algerian territory, Morocco has practically narrowed the field of movement on the Polisario Front, to remain almost besieged after the demarcation of its infiltration might make it besieged, and what confirms this is its military combing along the border from behind the wall, so the Polisario Front has rightly become a problem It needs a solution, as it has become isolated inside Tindouf, which raises the cost for the parties supporting and embracing it.

Part of the sharp Algerian reaction that seeks to portray Morocco as an enemy and a threat, similar to a cold war discourse that employs a narrative based on psychological mobilization and mobilization against an external opponent to distract from major issues, is due, in part, to ending the desire to encircle Morocco By demarcating the presence of the separatist front as a tool on its southern borders, and then penetration and access to the Atlantic Ocean, which may change the balance of power in the region and negatively affect Morocco, and on the other hand, the decline of the Polisario in Tindouf turned the separatist entity into a problem within the Algerian borders. We overlook the impact of the American recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara and the joining of other countries to that, and this brings about a strategic shift in Morocco's regional positioning at the political and economic level.

In contrast to these motives and paths taken by the Algerian-Moroccan relationship, or the conflict nourished by it, Morocco, with the exception of two points that are offensive to the image of Morocco, remains calm in managing the relationship, and we mean by them the issue of normalization and the statement of the Israeli Foreign Minister in a press conference in the presence of the Moroccan Foreign Minister , in which he referred to Algeria from Rabat without a response from Morocco, and then raised the Kabyle point at the United Nations, the purpose of which was mentioned previously, that is, to remind Algeria of the dangers of secession.

If we follow what is reported on the official level in Morocco, especially the speech of the King of Morocco, in which he extended a hand to Algeria to turn the page on the dispute and cooperate for the sake of the two countries in order to achieve progress, and the multiple telegrams on national occasions, we will find that Morocco’s approach in its relationship with its neighbors is neutral and avoids playing the role Negative and momentary emotions, and this is mainly due to the nature of the political system in Morocco, which drags behind it the experience of 3 centuries, which means strategic awareness and historical memory that helps it manage relations and spare the country from slipping into direct confrontations, an experience that may be lacking in patterns of a military nature, and perhaps it was The success of the popular movement in Algeria, or resolving the problem of power and not being dependent on the army at the expense of politicians and civilians, as well as overcoming a discourse that derives its origins from the literature of totalitarian regimes, will also push Algeria to extend a hand to Morocco instead of embracing the Polisario Front.

In conclusion, the current tensions between Algeria and Morocco carry with it multiple negative effects that must be overcome or rationalized within certain limits, including what sows hatred in the social fabric of the two countries, which is united by the same features and characteristics, in addition to its impact on the economy of the two countries. Indeed, the intensity of the conflict transforms the possibilities that Morocco and Algeria have elements that can contribute to building a Greater Morocco according to common aspirations for progress and advancement to an element of weakening and dismantling, in addition to the fact that all attempts to fuel fragmentation implicitly serve colonial strategies, and are considered a moral failure for politicians and countries whose peoples combine the same culture, common history and destiny.