The recent crisis between Rabat and Washington has allowed for reorganizing relations between the two allies. And after the belief had become prevalent that the crisis had gone out of control, as a result of Morocco's request to suspend military maneuvers with the US Army, fears have receded back to their starting point. Indeed, it has appeared that the Americans were much more interested in the region of North Africa, and did not wish to lose any allies there. What Morocco put forward, in terms of emphasizing the dangers of broadening the powers of the MINURSO mission in the Western Sahara to include monitoring the human rights situation, was able to fall on sympathetic ears, on the basis that this would threaten stability, in light of the possibility of exploiting human rights issues for political ends. Yet the talks, which resulted in the withdrawal of the United States' draft recommendation, did not end there. Indeed, they represented a suitable opportunity to reverse the balance of strategic considerations. And it seemed difficult for the US administration to risk losing an ally like Morocco, on the background of circumstances that continue to be obscure and worrisome, hovering over the experiences of what is known as the countries of the Arab Spring. Moreover, the reactions of Moroccans have provided an example it would be difficult to disregard in dealing with the issue of the Western Sahara, reflecting consensus in the Moroccan street, including opposition factions which do not share all of the government's approaches in resolving economic and social issues. As took place when the US administration turned to listen to what was stirring in the Arab street in terms of rejecting the trappings of tyranny and the monopoly of wealth and power, it has chosen to listen to the thundering voice of the Moroccan street on the issue of the Western Sahara, in terms of refusing changes to the MINURSO mission and supporting the choice of negotiations over a political solution sponsored by the Security Council. In fact, Morocco did not ask of Washington anything more than to maintain a mission enforcing UN resolutions that entrusted MINURSO with sponsoring the ceasefire and ensuring a political solution that would be established on the basis of consensus. This time, the US administration listened to the voice of reason and did not rush into things. Indeed, it does not wish to repeat mistakes that have led it in the past to get implicated in quagmires it now seeks to free itself from. Thus, if it did not intervene militarily to cleanse northern Mali of armed extremist groups, it has maintained its support for any such initiative within the framework of the international community. It was noteworthy that the phone call which took place between US President Barack Obama and Moroccan Monarch King Mohammed VI focused on strategic cooperation in the fields of defense, security and the war on terror. In other words, Washington has learned many lessons from its pattern of direct intervention. It now prefers to establish more comprehensive international cooperation, in which countries in neighboring zones of tension all over the world would play vital roles. Washington has not been far from the events that were taking place in the Sahel south of the Sahara. It had thus taken the step of organizing joint military maneuvers in order to train forces in the Sahara region to confront terrorist threats. It also seems to have carefully listened to the call made by Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, as well as by American UN Envoy Christopher Ross, when they both considered that quickly reaching a solution to the Western Sahara conflict was imperative in order to contain the danger of growing threats from the Sahel. When Washington retracted its previous draft recommendation, it was merely an opportunity to reflect, and this turned back the clock to frightening realities. Indeed, it has in the end allowed for a more realistic approach in looking at the region's problems. It was helped in this by the fact that the Democrats in the United States had been much more enthusiastic about establishing an open partnership with the countries of North Africa. And it is only natural for such a partnership, which became even more likely after the collapse of the former regimes in both Tunisia and Libya, to aspire to find an encouraging climate, not least of which is preventing the situation in the Western Sahara from deteriorating, as well as looking for an honorable way out in order to reestablish détente in relations between Morocco and Algeria. Because the United States' perspective on the Middle East and North Africa is indivisible, suggestive signs in President Obama's statements, in terms of more in-depth talks with Morocco on vital issues such as Syria, Mali and Palestine, apply not only to relations between Rabat and Washington, but in fact goes beyond them to prepare the area of North African countries to assume a role within this renewed structure. And if the fact that some countries in North Africa – including Egypt, which is considered to represent the link between the countries of the Maghreb and those of the Levant – are busy organizing the transitional situation, such preoccupations do not prevent the US administration from moving forward to address obstructed issues. Indeed, President Obama has seemed convinced that his second term in office allows him a great deal of initiative, most prominently speeding up the two-state solution, ending the Syrian crisis, and focusing on the issues of the African continent, to which the Maghreb region represents the necessary gateway. And if the only positive aspect of the passing crisis between Rabat and Washington was that it restored consideration to the regional dimension in containing many existing problems, the responsibility of the countries of North Africa resides in seizing these encouraging signs. That is because this would ensure a balance of roles being played. And Obama's praise for Morocco's efforts in terms of constitutional reform simply means that the real starting point can only be from rearranging internal matters, on the basis of linking growth to democracy. After this, it will become easy to integrate any peaceful solution to any kind of crisis within the context of viable formulas.
