The decision to close the borders between Algeria and Morocco is not final, according to the Algerian Foreign Minister, Mourad Medelci. However, the fact that the border crisis has been ongoing since the summer of 1994 tells a different story. The failure to accomplish such an ordinary step – according to all the standards of good neighborhood – is due to the accumulation of deep differences that have hindered rapprochement between the two neighboring countries, and the development of the strategic Maghreb Union. Although the closure of the borders was a mutual measure, its negative repercussions affected the entire North African region. It is no coincidence that no Maghreb summit has been held since 1994, while the presence of the region's countries on the Arab and regional scenes has declined as a result of these differences. In the face of issues that were not bound to become a subject of dispute – such as the war against terrorism and illegal emigration – the Maghreb experience was affected by a rather isolationist tendency. The differences were so strong that any statement or position that might allude to a desire to correct the situation cannot but induce optimism. The statement of the head of the Algerian diplomacy indicates that the issue of the closed Moroccan-Algerian borders is no longer dependent on difficult and unrealizable terms. Indeed, as Rabat used to be the only side to practice the politics of the extended hand, the Algerian response brought a lot of hope. Practically, whether any decisions were right or wrong, these decisions will cease to be when their reasons cease to be. For example, the Algeria of 1994 is no longer the same since the security situation has stabled up and since the power struggle has abated. Meanwhile, Morocco used to present itself as an exception when it comes to radicalism and trans-continental terrorism. However, it has been burnt by the fire of this blight as of late. In addition, the borders – which used to be controlled through security and customs measures in addition to precautionary behavior – are no longer subjected to the mood of official resolutions. They are rather open to all winds ever since the revolution of globalization and communications erupted, reducing distances and barriers. And between this and that, the Algerians and the Moroccans were bound to realize that neither of the two countries can live without the other, nor relinquish the requirements of good neighborhood, which impose the need to coexist politically, economically, and socially. The most prominent transformations behind the positive development in the positions were the changes brought by what came to be known as the Arab Spring, which started in the Maghreb, namely in Tunisia, and which expanded horizontally towards other countries. Undoubtedly, as Algeria and Morocco are looking over the horizons of these changes taking place not far from their natural and political geography, they must be pondering the potential dimensions of this massive wave. Perhaps the matter calls for more pondering when it comes to Algeria as it is looking at it from the right and from the left. As Algeria's eastern neighborhood has been hit by earthquakes including Tunisia and Libya which fall quintessentially in the Maghreb sphere, its eastern side was able to assimilate these waves through a revolution of massive constitutional reforms that allowed Islamic movements to try their luck in the transfer of power. The fact is that Morocco, which overlooks the northern bank of the Mediterranean Sea, would not have been able to overlook the developments in its eastern neighborhood. Algeria seems to be capable of assimilating the transformations. The proof is that there is a will to hold elections that will give hopes to the Algerian people. This means that the differences between the two neighboring countries, despite their large number and the fact that they have been ongoing for a long while, did not change a thing in the balance of stability, which is the most important currency today. And although there are differences in the two countries' experiences, the most important thing is that Algeria's wellbeing is a part of Morocco's wellbeing and security, the same way that Morocco kindles the aspirations of the Algerians. But stability, in its global concept, cannot be completed without economic and social security. There is nothing better than the prescriptions of openness, coexistence, and normalization in order to achieve the lost complementarily between two countries that have all the qualifications for the exchange of benefits and gains. There is still time. The détente that reigned in the relationships of Rabat and Algeria in the nineties of the last century had a magical effect in bringing the points of view closer together and in agreeing on building the Maghreb union. For the time being, the only requirement is some détente that will restore the vitality of the border strip that had a historic, social, and struggle-related momentum. This vitality has caused the Algerians and the Moroccans to feel that they are in one country. This was in the past. Why can't the two countries replicate the bright sides of a solidarity that is now in the past tense, rather than the present or the future tenses?
