I read this article a few weeks back and thought it was ... not so good. I think you're being way too kind to Applebaum. Your reading of the article is sensible enough, and this other critique of it may have been totally off base (haven't read it), but I don't think your benign reading of the article is what she intended to write. From what I've seen of A. A. before, she's exactly the kind of person who will go nuts over hijab-free women with lipstick, who thinks March 14 in Lebanon were secular pro-US democrats, who has (probably) been swooning over Ayaan Hirsi Ali, etc.

For example, what the fuck was she smoking when she wrote this?

Hmmm.

Well, reading something in isolation can be dangerous.

That puts my generous reading of the Shah reference in question but the quote re hidjab wearing girls in jeans is what it is (among 'what it is' is accurate).

Someone is so in love with Lmakhzan that they live in Britain :)
a generous lover that king of yours.

While it's futile for me to get into an argument with you (someone who yes, does know more about Moroccan politics specifically than I), I will say two things: I've been reading Applebaum's precious comments on MENA for years, and she is indeed the type of person whose panties get wet over the sight of hijab-free Muslims; on the whole, I'm simply tired of the commentary of western women who've barely set foot in the region.

Second, my rant was just a rant on my own blog that happened to get picked up by the Morocco Board and printed there without my permission. It was certainly not intended to be as widespread an article as it ended up being (or I would have certainly done better fact-checking, as I've spotted some of my own errors since).

I think you're the one overreacting. Applebaum's pieces on MENA are execrable, and that one was particularly so. If you want to defend the way public affairs are conducted in Morocco, do so. But don't pretend that Jillian's mitigation was out of line.

I don't have time to deconstruct your jibber-jabber right now, but let it be known that Vilayet e Fiqh isn't hereditary. Now, suck it up and acknowledge you're ignoring fundamental differences.

Primo: "Second, my rant was just a rant on my own blog that happened to get picked up by the Morocco Board and printed there without my permission": Fine but why should I care? Public posting is a public post, I could care less about the source, I haven't even a clue as to what Morocco Board is.

Secundo, re Applebaum: well, as I don't follow the women, reading the piece in isolation didn't set off much in the way of alarm bells for me. Insofar as I am not insensitive to many of the same issues that concern you, I'd suggest you're reacting less to what was actually written and more to the author. Perhaps not an unreasonable position as such, authors do have histories... but nevertheless the actual words did not seem that bad to me.

Now as to the "Lixy" commentator: What the bloody fuck are you on about?

Primo: I pretend nothing, I found the comment commented on poor for the reasons laid out supra, one blog to another. Get a grip.

Secundo: What on earth does heredity have to do with Veleyat e Fiqh? And in particular with respect to what I wrote. A red line is a red motherfucking line. In Iran one can't (as was made bloodily evident of late with the most recent bout of unpleasantness) call into question the Khomienist regime nor the Veleyat e Fiqh. Opposition to the regime in Iran has to dance around pretending not to oppose said fundamental verites.

Given no fucking country is a bloody copy of another, it highlights the same bloody issues you git.

Fair enough, but the very reason I started the piece with a brief ranting about Applebaum herself was to indicate my great dislike for her. Point taken; next time I'll devote an entire paragraph to such vitriol, just so it's abundantly clear.

Two questions:

- Should Morocco be compared to MENA countries? While I think it's a stretch to want to compare it to Spain circa 1975, as some do, I think we can aspire to do better than merely compare well with elsewhere in the Arab world. Particularly elsewhere in North Africa: these are basketcase countries. Indeed, it might altogether to count improvements from a baseline in the history of the country. Since we are talking about M6, we might compare it to the situation on 30 July 1999 and compare the dynamic of positive change. Has the dynamic slowed down since the late 1990s? I think so. Has the actual situation gotten worse? A mixed bag: the rights situation has gotten worse (mostly because of the "Global War on Terror" and the lese-majeste trials) but did not revert to pre-1996; economic governance is no more transparent and worse in some respects due to the growing role of the royal holdings, women's rights have improved in theory though practice still needs to catch up; politics after some hope has stagnated with terrible developments such as the PAM, which ultimately will make it more difficult to mediate between the government and the population. Quality of governance, after continuing to improve between mid-1990s and mid-2000s with the arrival of more qualified people at the helm of institutions, is today so-so, especially because the king retains all the powers but takes none of the responsibility (and hard work). The constitutional/institutional balance remains unchanged: Morocco is still an absolute monarchy (and this mistake in Applebaum's piece is unforgivable: the king himself stressed this in his July 30 2007 speech). That would be my conclusion.

- When does the M6-is-better-than-H2 free pass end? 10 years enough? Why are things that are probably more important than politics and rights, such as the overhaul of education (and I agree about the Berber language thing being a stupid distraction) and raising living standards for the poorest (those people who freeze to death in the High Atlas in the winter) start being given more prevalence? Lounsbury and I (I'm in Morocco 3 months a year, more or less) live in the nice coastal cities. What we see is much better than what I see (and I think Lounsbury has seen) in Egypt (where I live the rest of the year.) But the UNDP and UN Human Development indices probably show a truer picture of the global situation of the country, not just the globalized bits/"Maroc Utile".

Hola Issandr.

Well, re comparatives to MENA... You know you have to compare peers to peers to get a sense of real evolution. Comparing Morocco to Spain has some utility, but needs context as well (e.g. impact of EU membership, etc).

On Applebaum and the Monarchy, I don't disagree per se, but she said "Traditional Monarchy" versus Constitutional.... well I suppose I can see an argument that M6 is less 'traditional.'

Weak one however.

I might quibble with some of your evals supra, and perhaps will in a separate post, but one thing I keep in mind is that no country manages flat out reforms unchecked for a decade. Flagging is inevitable. The real question in my mind is sustainability and potential "second wind." Or going backward...

Regarding the social advances, you're right, one can get fooled. Casa-Rabat axis is like say Italy or Greece in the 1960s relative to real economic development. That is, not that bad. 200 km inland and you're more in Sub Saharan Africa (good SSA, but...) standards.

It is not easy to change such things. The quick and easy items either have already been done, or are counterproductive. One thing I give the Moroccan government great credit for is investing in rational infrastructure in the past decade. Boring, useful, rational infrastructure. This sort of thing pays off, but slowly. It is, however, an absolute necessity.

Hmm, well, this is a rich comment, needs a post reply. But one obs, as you and I both have lived in the Great Mezbala, and that Rabat-Casa axis. For me the greatest indictment of the Egyptian regime is even in Cairo the regime can't deliver on basic organization in the core areas of the economic capital. Nevermind the bidonvilles / slums, I meant the damned bloody core.

Both the Maroc Utile and the Inland Morocco are real pictures, getting proper investment to allow Inland Morocco to become part of Maroc Utile is the Great Challenge. I am moderately optimistic about that. In a way that I am not, in the long term, about several neighbours.

Ouakha Sidi,

The infrastructure projects were indeed great and very useful, and general law and order are positive points. I have no way to substantiate this, but one feels they were planned under H2 (by the G14 and other mid-90s reformist technocratic outfits). What are the great infrastructure projects post-highways and Tanger Med? Le Plan Vert? The tourism plan that never did quite work out? The considerable amounts of money the EU is putting into supporting certain trade-oriented light industries?

The argument is also sometimes made that core economic reforms were made under H2 and we're seeing the benefit now, including the late 80s / early 90s decision to issue passports more freely which arguably translates into the remittances boom of the 2000s.

I do worry about cost-of-living issues, and to what extent they may be related to unnatural monopolies because of weak economic governance. I am thinking of Maroc Telecom / Vivendi of course, but also certain quasi-monopolies created in the last decade. For instance the Akwa Group - rumor is that the energy wing of that may be sold off to the royals. Addoha of course. The whole edible oils fiasco. I'd be interested to learn more about Attijirya bank's loan burden. Sure, business is business anywhere, but in Morocco (despite still too much red tape) you have a promising entrepreneurial culture dampened by too much politics in business. That's troubling for the future.

Like you said, post-worthy and your insight into business life would be v. interesting.

Very good points. I need to do a post. However, we're bumping dangerously up against issues I have to be careful about.