Ten years after they came to power in Algeria and Morocco, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Moroccan King Mohammad VI talked about the good neighborhood policy that should distinguish the relations between the two neighboring countries. For Morocco, it was understood to consider the extended hand policy towards Algeria for the purpose of achieving the minimum level of consensus that starts by reopening the border that has been closed for over 15 years, and establishing ordinary and tension-free relations that pave the way for gradual normalization. However the major development in the Algerian rhetoric addressed this time the good neighborhood concept in the framework of trying the congratulations diplomacy, to which countries resort to stay connected. Both in happy and in sad moments, Moroccans and Algerians have formulated the diplomacy of emotions. The dialogue between them is not severed and ongoing, as they have both come to look into the dictionary of joint historical moments, and the stages of struggle for independence, where no obstacles existed to the movement of fighters via the border between both countries, in addition to the national occasions that stir up fraternal feelings. They also invented a special kind of dialogue that lies in portending with the principles of solidarity and collaboration in the face of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and humanitarian tragedies. Ironically, monitoring the transformations of the Moroccan-Algerian relations reveals that both countries have overlooked their political conflicts in the mid-1980s when they faced the locusts that swept their joint border. This required security coordination that developed into political detente, the most important results of which was putting into effect the agreement of border demarcation and good neighborhood policy. This was also mirrored on the regional level through the establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union. However, nothing remained of these transformations. The relations between both countries collapsed after the Atlas Asni Hotel events, which developed into closing the land border in a manner that impeded the movement of people and property. Then there was a big chasm that severely wrecked the Maghreb consensus. While Morocco concludes the first decade of King Mohammad VI's tenure without any breakthrough in the relations with Algeria, the congratulations message sent by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika – who is a few weeks into his third tenure – was an indication for a possible detente, especially since the neighborhood concept does not conform to the border closure. This breakthrough also applies to all positions in relation to pending files, notably the Sahara issue which hindered the resumption of confidence-building and made the partners of both countries in the Arab Maghreb Union pay a high price. The good neighborhood logic involves separating the problems of the bilateral relations that are engulfed by many differences, ones that are likely to be absorbed and contained in a realistic and rational manner, especially since both neighboring countries tried to pursue cooperation and openness together in light of the continued Sahara conflict. Just as Morocco has avoided embarrassing Algeria by sticking to direct talks with the Polisario front under the umbrella of the United States, Algeria would be able to announce that it brought the front to an unexpected position. Perhaps what is closest to the mutual reassurance is that the file itself is within the jurisdiction of the United Nations, which means that supporting the efforts of the latter is the least required by the situation. Neither King Mohammad VI nor President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was able to get rid of the heavy legacy of the ideological wars and political rivalries between their countries. It transpired that both men moved to a decision-making position in light of regional and international developments that were not as intense as before. Open meetings were held between both leaders, but the water that ran under the bridge was stronger than their desires to end their differences. While President Bouteflika appears to be free of many restrictions, his ability to create a new consensus with Morocco is greater than the obstacles in his way. It is perhaps the first time that both countries replace the terms mending differences and fraternity with a logic called good neighborhood, which cannot be consolidated on the ground without a better neighborhood.
